Weirdness Is Genetic
by Sherza
Summary: Xander always hoped Tony wasn't his father. Jim never expected to be one. Jon just wants to get through high school without dying of boredom. Fate works in funny ways.
1. Weird Discoveries

Weird Discoveries

Weirdness Is Genetic

Spoilers: Season 1 of BTVS, Season 1 and Season 2 episode 'Flight' for The Sentinel, Seasons 1-6 and 7 up to 'Fragile Balance' for SG-1. Just pretend that the timing works, folks. *grin*. This starts in June, immediately at the end of 'Flight' and several months post- 'Fragile Balance'

Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with BTVS, SG-1, or The Sentinel.

Summary: Xander always hoped Tony wasn't his father. Jim never expected to be one. Jon just wants to get through high school without dying of boredom.

Notes: For those who don't know: A Sentinel is a person with all five senses extremely enhanced. They have trouble with the senses, which means spikes (extremely painful overload) or zones (concentrating on one sense to the exclusion of all else). They have what is called a Guide, a person who can help them stay in control through a variety of means. There is a mystical side, too. Sentinels and Guides have 'spirit animals' that show up in prophetic/warning dreams and sometimes in waking life (though only the Sentinel and Guide can see them).

Jim Ellison is an ex-Army Ranger and currently a cop. Blair Sandburg is an anthropology student who is studying Sentinels. In the episode just prior to this fic, Simon (Jim's immediate boss) and his son Darryl got kidnapped and dragged to Peru. Jim and Blair went to rescue them and are currently en-route home.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 1, Sunnydale, before dawn

Xander sighed as he walked along the sidewalk just outside one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries. Vampire activity had gone way, way down since the Master got staked. It was like all of them decided to abandon the sinking ship like the rats they were. Still, there'd been a few around, and neither he nor Willow had been entirely willing to just let them run around unchecked. Hence the patrolling. Not that Xander was supposed to be patrolling alone, actually, but given the choice between patrolling and staying home just at the moment, Xander'd take the patrolling. Tony had come home roaring drunk and in a mood for a fight. Times like that, it was just safer to make himself absent. He'd learned that one the hard way at a very young age.

He was so distracted by his own admittedly less-than-happy thoughts that he never knew he was in danger until it was entirely too late and his world went black in time with a nasty crack to the head.

June 1, Somewhere over the Pacific

Jim had fallen asleep shortly after they'd taken off out of self-defense. It was either that or go completely insane trying to deal with the sensory-overload-in-a-can that was flying while tired. At least both Simon and Darryl were safe and well. He just wished he'd never had to go back to Peru. Incacha aside, it had not been a fun time in his life.

_He was standing in the familiar, humid jungles of Peru, though everything was tinted slightly blue, rather than green. As he stared around in confusion, a massive black jaguar stalked out of the underbrush not five feet away. He jerked back with a curse, going for a gun that he quickly discovered he didn't have. The jaguar chuffed at him, then turned and disappeared once more, and Jim relaxed._

_Moments later, it was back again. And again. The fourth time, Jim had the distinct notion the cat was seriously annoyed. It chuffed and growled at him, then circled him and used its not inconsiderable bulk to shove Jim off balance and in the general direction the big cat had disappeared the other times. Jim cursed at it again, but, having moved in that direction, he felt oddly compelled to keep moving._

_The jaguar, with a pleased-sounding chuff, took off at something approaching top speed. Weirdly, Jim found himself able to keep up, following the jaguar as it followed a trail only it could detect. How long they kept running, Jim didn't know, but suddenly they reached the end of the jungle, an oddly incongruous neat line of trees that would never happen in nature. Beyond the trees lay something Jim knew was wholly impossible ... the African savannah. He could plainly see zebras, wildebeest, and a variety of antelopes scattered around._

_The jaguar raced along the treeline until they reached an oddly thick, tall section of grass that screened everything around them from view, and then pushed through until it reached a bloodied, trampled section. Near the center lay a badly wounded spotted hyena, collapsed on its side, barely breathing. The jaguar sniffed at the hyena, purred roughly and started licking at the wounds in the hyena's side. The hyena let out a low, pained whine, but made no move to defend itself or fend off the jaguar's attentions._

_Suddenly, the grass shifted and moved. The jaguar abruptly stopped trying to clean the hyena and straddled it, all its fur standing on end, ears going flat back, snarling and growling murderously as it hunched down as best it could while straddling the injured hyena, preparing to leap at whatever was hidden in the long grass. From a completely different direction came a large wolf, which the jaguar seemingly ignored as it came up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the jaguar in a similar attitude of defensive, protective wrath. The grass started shaking and Jim caught flickers of movement, brief glimpses of ... something ..._

Jim woke with a nearly violent jerk, glancing around sharply, then gave his head a shake. Of course Blair, sitting next to him, noticed.

"You ok, Jim?" He asked.

Jim scowled. "Weird dream."

"Really? What was it about?" Blair asked.

Jim glared at him. "Not really in the mood to talk about it, Chief."

"C'mon man. You about shot out of your seat a couple seconds ago."

The glare clearly wasn't working. Jim sighed. "Fine. I was in the Peruvian jungle, followed a black cat to the African savannah, watched it and a wolf try to protect a hyena from something I couldn't see, then woke up." He rattled off, completely ignoring the tension and sense of danger that had been wrapped around the entire dream.

Blair almost bounced in his seat. "Really? Animal symbolism in dreams is ... "

Jim cut him off. "Not now, Blair. I'm going back to sleep." He promptly closed his eyes and ignored the huff from Blair.

Blair woke him midway through a identical repeat of the dream ... in every detail ... to tell him they were descending.

June 1, Outskirts of L.A., late afternoon

Xander woke with a groan of pain. His entire body hurt. Slowly, painfully, he peeled his eyes open and looked around. He promptly wished he hadn't. He had no idea where he was, but he was in so much trouble. He was lying on the ground, chained by the ankle to a support post in what looked like a basement. That was the good news. The bad news was the huge, hulking, very definitely not human (or anything even close) ... things. There were three of them. They were each close to seven foot tall, had thick, green crocodile-like skin and horns on their heads that reminded him of Darth Maul. Worse, they were built like gorillas, with insanely wide shoulders and overly long, powerful arms that ended in some serious claws.

They were standing face to face, and making quite a racket, which is probably what had roused him from unconsciousness, Xander realized. There seemed to be a lot of gesturing involved as well. Unfortunately, he was not exactly fluent in 'grunt roar gargle' so he had no idea what, if anything, was being said.

Eventually, one of the things came over and damn near ripped Xander's foot off as it unchained him, dragging him to his feet and shaking him, though its attention seemed to be mostly on the other two things. Upright, Xander spotted the door. Sadly, he had no chance of reaching it while Magilla the Crocodile Gorilla was all but crushing his arm in its grip.

June 1, LAX (Los Angeles Airport) Late afternoon

Jim, followed by Blair, Simon and Darryl, was heading for the luggage turnstiles when he spotted something that nearly made him smack his head against the nearest solid object. The same huge black jaguar from his dreams was pacing back and forth in the middle of the hectically busy area, being completely ignored by (and frequently passing right through) the people hurrying back and forth. It was, if anything, even more agitated than it had been in the dream.

"Christ." He snapped, then turned away towards the turnstile with his and Blair's luggage.

"Jim? What's ... oh. Ummm. Jim?"

The sudden jump in Blair's heartrate and the change of tone had Jim whirling around, expecting trouble. He got it. Blair was staring fixedly at the pacing jaguar. Which had been joined by an equally agitated wolf while Jim's back was turned. Jim closed the distance between himself and Blair. "You see them?"

"Yeah man. They're not too happy looking, are they?" Blair asked. "I don't ... do they want us to follow them?"

"Chief, are you hearing yourself?" Jim asked. "They're figments of our imagination, and you want to follow them?"

"Yeah. Yeah. I think we should, man. Something's going on."

"You get to explain it to Simon." Jim told him.

Blair grimaced. "Right. Right. On it." He headed over to Simon and Darryl. Jim just grabbed their suitcases and made a concerted effort to pretend he didn't hear Blair's rapid-fire obfuscating with Simon.

Simon looked exasperated, but he didn't try to stop Jim and Blair from heading off. At least they had two hours until their next flight. Not much time, but who knew, it could be enough, right? Simon and Darryl elected to stay at the airport, so Jim and Blair headed off. The jaguar and wolf dogged their steps to the rental counter, and from there to the rental car. The minute Jim got them out of the LAX's parking lot, the two animals took off in front of the car, racing along ahead of them, pulling speeds no animal shy of a cheetah could manage. The harder Jim floored the gas pedal, the faster the two animals ran. The animals led them north, towards the edge of the city. After a while, they got off the highways and onto normal roads, heading into what looked like a mixed light industrial/low-rent area.

"I don't like this, Sandburg. I don't like it at all." Jim grumbled, glaring around them.

June 1, Outskirts of L.A., late afternoon

Xander quickly found himself playing the part of a hacky-sack. He got pulled, pushed, hit and grabbed painfully as the three creatures ... demons? Yeah. Demons. His life officially sucked ... apparently fought over him and (probably) who got the juiciest bits. Still reeling from getting conked on the head, lord alone knew what else had happened while he was out, (and wasn't that thought just giving him a first-class case of the wiggins), and now suffering what was probably a cracked bone or three from the demons' crushing grips, Xander really couldn't do much of anything to defend himself in the three-way tug of war.

At least, not until one of them decided to try to end the argument in their favor by slashing at him with their claws. Xander screamed in pain and collapsed onto the ground even as the other two flung themselves at the third, instigating a free-for-all brawl. One injured arm clamped across his abdomen, which was bleeding heavily, Xander struggled to crawl away. Fortunately, the demons seemed to be far too distracted with their fight to notice him escaping. Somehow he made it to the door, found stairs beyond it and forced himself to his feet. Up there was ... well, hopefully something better than down here, that was for sure.

Xander half pulled and half crawled himself up the stairs, through the torn-up remains of someone's house, and out into the brightly sunlit street before the blood loss and pain became too much and he collapsed, unconscious, in the middle of the street.

Two blocks away, the jaguar roar and the wolf howled in outrage and both swerved down a side street. Jim twisted the wheel hard to keep with them and glanced ahead to ensure they wouldn't crash into any oncoming cars. He swore violently when he spotted what looked like someone stumbling out of a house and collapsing in the middle of the road.

"Chief ... "

"I am so ahead of you." Blair said, already digging for his phone. His vision might not be as good as Jim's, but at two blocks, it was hard to miss seeing that.

As if they knew their job was done, both jaguar and wolf disappeared, leaving Jim to squeal to a stop mere feet from the collapsed ... oh hell, it was a kid. Teenager from the looks of it. And bleeding like a stuck pig, too. Jim cursed again and jumped out, tearing the trunk open and digging the emergency first aid kit he'd packed against finding Simon and Darryl injured out before hustling to the kid's side.

The kid looked like he'd been worked over by a boxer and a linebacker, bruises and scrapes everywhere, including a nice big goose-egg near his right temple. What worried Jim, once he'd turned the kid (carefully!) onto his back and spotted the source of the blood was ... well, the source of all the blood. Something had clawed the hell out of the kid, damn near eviscerating him. He also stank of ... something Jim couldn't even begin to identify and was too worried about keeping the kid alive until help arrived to worry about.

Blair got off the phone and crouched on the other side of the kid, handing Jim things as he worked to stem the tide of blood. "They're five minutes out." He told Jim.

"Let's hope the kid lasts that long. And call Simon."

"Already did." Blair said. There was no way either one of them were going anywhere until this ... mystery ... was dealt with.

Fortunately, the ambulance (and police) arrived when they said they would. Jim watched as the paramedics loaded the kid into the ambulance and took off at top speed, then turned to deal with his fellow lawmen. It was going to be interesting, explaining how they'd stumbled across this.


	2. Meets and Chats

Meets and Chats

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 1, L.A., Evening

Three hours, a ton of Sandburgian obfuscation and one missed flight later found Jim and Blair in the surgical waiting room of Los Angeles County General, waiting for word on 'John Doe' (evidently, no identification had been found on the poor kid) with two of Los Angeles' finest. Technically, Jim and Blair really shouldn't have been there, but professional courtesy has its advantages. Eventually, a surgeon came out.

"The young man made it through surgery." The surgeon told them. "Whatever caused the wounds did not, fortunately, penetrate into the body cavity. He has a mild concussion, a badly sprained ankle, three cracked ribs and two cracked humerus, combined with a good deal of muscle and ligament damage."

"Like he'd been grabbed by someone really strong." Jim fairly growled the words.

"He'll need to be watched closely over the next twenty-four hours, but barring unexpected complications, he ought to make a full recovery."

That was good news. Now they just had to figure out who the heck the kid was and who had torn him to shreds like that. And why. And then Jim was hoping for a few minutes alone with the perp.

Within those three hours, it was clear the LA crew were getting nowhere. There was a trail of the kid's blood leading into an (apparently) abandoned house and down into the basement, where they found a chain and manacle wrapped around a support post. And not much else. No weapon, no prints, no nothing. Worse, the kid was still a John Doe, though hopefully once he came 'round, he'd be able to fill them in.

June 1, Hospital, Evening

Oh god. He hurt. Everywhere. The pain dragged Xander from the gentle cocoon of unconsciousness and he moaned in pain. He was afraid to open his eyes. Afraid he'd been caught by the Magilla Gang. But then the distinctive smell of a hospital percolated into his awareness and he breathed a deep sigh of relief ... only to make due mental note to not do that again anytime soon, because ow. Seriously. Just ... gah. Ouch. He peeled his eyes open and blinked a few times, staring at the tiled ceiling. A few moments later, a gray-haired man in a doctor's coat came into his peripheral vision.

"Ahhh, good to see you awake." The man said. "Can you tell me your name?"

Xander worked his mouth for a moment, only succeeding in a hoarse croak. The doctor offered him some ice chips and after he'd swallowed them down, Xander managed a hoarse. "'sander Harris."

"Sander?" The doctor repeated, sounding a bit confused.

"Xander." Xander said, managing it more clearly that time. "Xander Harris." He frowned. "'m not in Sunnydale, am I?" Hospitals were rather one-like-another, but something told him this wasn't Sunnydale General.

"Sunnydale? No, no you're not." The doctor said. "You're currently in Los Angeles County General." The doctor looked him over, then said. "If you feel up to it, the police have a few questions."

Oh, damn. That was bad. That was really, really, really bad. There was no way they'd buy that he'd been kidnapped by demons. He'd get a nice long-sleeved coat that tied in the back and an extended stay in a padded room. And some nice, fun psychotropics. Time to lie his ass off, clearly. Play the I-don't-remember card for all it was worth. "Ok."

Two men came in the room, and Xander spent the next fifteen minutes lying like a rug. Did he know who attacked him? Did he remember how he escaped? Did he remember how he got his injuries? Nope. Sorry. Can't remember a thing. Got koshed on the head and blacked out without seeing anyone (at least that part was entirely true). Part of him felt really bad for the cops. They were clearly not Sunnydale Specials, and not being able to solve this was clearly irking them. After they'd gotten all their questions answered, if not in the way they wanted, they left, and Xander collapsed into sleep.

He woke up sometime close to dark only to find two new guys in his room. One was tall, built like a truck, with military-short hair, and the other was quite a bit shorter with the sort of long, curly hair Xander was used to seeing on girls. They were ... quite amusing. Mr. Military was pretty much the poster boy for the armed services, and his buddy wouldn't have looked out of place at a hippie convention, and was probably a decade younger, to boot.

Jim watched the kid eye them and couldn't restrain a small grin. He didn't blame the kid for the bewildered look. He was far from the first to be confused by Blair, especially when paired with himself. They were very much an odd couple. "Hey there. How you doing?" He asked.

Xander peered at the guy for a moment before answering. "Well, I think my pinkie toenail on my right foot doesn't hurt, so I'm good." He rasped. "They send you to see if I remember anything yet?"

"No. We're not with the police department." Blair piped up. "Well, not with the LA department, anyway. We're the ones who found you. I'm Blair Sandburg, and he's Jim Ellison, Cascade PD."

Xander's eyebrows headed for his hairline. "Really? Wow. Thanks for that. Thinking I definitely owe you one." He coughed a bit, winced as his abdomen informed him he was _not_ to do that again, thank you very kindly, and then just made things worse by attempting to reach for the cup on the tray by his bed. Bad idea. Really, really bad. He inhaled through his teeth trying not to yell as pain shot from shoulder to fingertip at the movement. "Ohgodowww." He hissed.

Blair immediately shot to his feet and offered the cup. Xander sipped from the straw, giving Blair a somewhat embarrassed look. "Thanks. Do you know if they've called my folks?"

Jim grimaced. Oh, the cops had called all right. And gotten yelled at, then hung up on by Harris Sr. "Yeah."

Xander swallowed. "Look, I really hate to bug either of you, but ... I need to call my friend Willow. Mom won't think to call her, and she'll be in a full-blown panic by now."

Blair grabbed the hospital phone. "Not a problem, Xander. What's the number?"

Xander rattled it off, and Blair punched the numbers in for him and held the receiver so he could hear. The phone didn't even get to ring twice.

"Giles! Ohgod isthat you? Please tellme you've foundsomething!" Xander's heart twinged. Definitely a full-blown Willow-panic. From the sound of it, she had been crying, too. Though that wasn't all that surprising.

"Wills, it's me."

"XANDER! OHMYGOD WHEREARE YOUARE YOUALL RIGHT? WHATHAPPENED?" Xander jerked his head away from the phone at Willow's shriek, and noticed both Blair and Jim flinching at the volume.

"Wills. Wills, calm down, ok. Deep breaths." He waited until he heard her actually taking deep breaths before he continued. "Look, I'm in LA. Got attacked and dragged off, from what they're telling me."

"You're in the hospital?" Willow asked, voice wobbling like she was about to start crying again. At least she'd slowed down and wasn't shrieking at the top of her lungs.

"Yeah. Pretty banged up, too, from what they tell me. I've got no idea when I'll be home."

"You call every day, mister! And I'll get Giles to drive me up there in the morning! Buffy will be there too!" Willow insisted.

"You guys called her?" Xander asked, feeling guilty. He didn't comment on Willow's demand he call everyday, yet she said she'd be here in the morning.

"At lunchtime, when it was clear no one'd seen you."

Crap. Xander felt bad that this had messed up Buffy's time with her dad. He told Willow where he was and what room number, and after several reassurances, finally nodded to Blair to hang up. "Thanks for that." He said.

"No problem. You really weren't kidding about her being in a full-blown panic." Blair commented.

"We've been friends since we were toddlers." Xander told them. "Best friends, really." Well, them and ... but that was a wound that was still nowhere near healed. God, he missed Jesse.

Blair shot Jim a look, which Jim returned. No mention of his father and mother and when they'd be here, just a comment about his mother forgetting to call his friend. Combined with what the police had said the reaction to their call had been, it was beginning to paint a very not-pretty picture, but it was something that wasn't in their jurisdiction. Or even the LA group's.

"Well, they're not wanting us to hang around too long and tiring you out, so we'd better get going. Good to see you awake though, man." Blair said.

"Thanks. And thanks again for the save, both of you." Xander told them. Very shortly after they left, he was asleep again.

June 2, Hospital, late morning

Jim and Blair arrived as soon as visiting hours opened. At that, they crossed paths with two officers as they came out of Xander's room, evidently having spoken to him a second time. If the looks on their faces were anything to go by, Xander's memory was still a blank.

Xander was clearly slightly hopped up on pain meds this morning, as he grinned widely at Jim and Blair. "You came back! Not that I thought you wouldn't, because you said you would, and I totally don't think you're the kind of guys who go back on their word and I'm just really glad to see you and they kind of have me on the good drugs because I'm kinda babbling, you know?"

Jim couldn't help a laugh. "He's almost as bad as you are, Blair, when you get going."

"Hey, I do not babble. I speak at speed and with erudite enunciation." Blair protested.

"You babble, Chief." Jim said with a grin. Not frequently, but he did.

Blair gave a mock huff of annoyance, and Xander grinned more widely. Before anything else could be said, voices could be heard in the hallway, and seconds later the room got invaded. An older, graying man wearing tweed ... tweed of all things, in California no less, a short, blonde-haired girl and a taller redhead poured into the room. The redhead promptly burst into tears and started to fling herself at Xander, only to pull up as she realized how foolhardy that would be. The blonde got a look on her face like she dearly wanted to hurt something, and the older man's face blanked, but the eyes promised dire retribution on whoever had done this to Xander.

Jim didn't blame them for their distress. Xander looked like shit. He still had the goose egg, was covered in bruises, and sporting two splints on his upper arms. And that was just what was visible above the covers. Under the covers and under the hospital gown was even worse, Jim knew.

The redhead eventually settled on petting Xander's hair with a shaky hand, tears streaking down her face, completely incapable of speech at the moment. The blonde took up position on the other side of the bed. The older gentleman approached himself and Blair.

"Who might you be?" The man wanted to know.

"Jim Ellison, and this is Blair Sandburg. We found Xander." Jim filled him in. "Who're you? And them?" He gestured to the two girls. He was guessing the redhead was Willow, but he could be wrong

The man's blank-faced expression finally shifted to relief and gratitude. "Our thanks." He said, sounding truly sincere. "My name is Rupert Giles. The redhead is Willow Rosenberg and the blonde is Buffy Summers."

Jim fought down a smirk at the blonde's name. "How do you know Xander?"

"I'm the school librarian. Xander is part of an after-school study group that meets in the library several nights a week. I've become rather fond of the young man." Giles told him. "Willow and Buffy are part of the group as well. Willow's parents aren't in town at this time, so when she appealed to me for a ride ... " Giles let it trail off, grateful that what he'd said was the truth ... just not the entire truth. After all, Xander, Willow and Buffy _did_ study in their get-togethers. They just studied demons rather than school subjects. While the adults of Sunnydale might swallow a blatant lie, Giles was not fool enough to think those outside of the Hellmouth's influence would be so gullible, especially not someone who'd clearly been in the military at one point, as Jim had to have been, given his bearing. With persons like that, it was best to stick as closely to the truth as was humanly possible, lest the person get nosy and end up messily dead.

Over by the bed, Xander was quietly trying to reassure Willow and Buffy. "I'll be ok guys. I know it looks bad, but give me a few weeks and I'll be back on my feet."

Sadly, neither girl was exactly buying it. Willow just continued to sniffle and pet his hair while Buffy looked frighteningly close to murderous. "I ever catch who did this, they're going to wish they'd never been born." Buffy growled, eyeballing Jim and Blair as she spoke and clearly editing what she really wanted to say with the strangers in mind. Xander knew they'd be talking later, as soon as the guys left.

"Whoever they were, they're probably long gone. Me getting away would not have been of the good, you know? They'd think the cops would be after them pretty darn quick." Xander grimaced. "I just wish I could remember anything."

Over on the other side of the room, Jim fought down a reaction. If the sudden change in heartrate was anything to go by, Xander had just lied. About not remembering? Why? Had he known his attacker? Afraid of later retribution? It wouldn't be the first time such a thing happened, sadly, but ... christ. Whoever'd done this would be going in for attempted murder if he had anything to say about it, alongside kidnapping, assault and battery and whatever other charges could be thrown at them. Whoever they were, they'd not be getting out of jail for a very long time, if ever.

After a few minutes, Jim and Blair said their goodbyes and headed out. They'd gotten almost to the end of the hall when Jim heard the blonde ... Buffy ... say "So, what really happened?"

Jim immediately put on the brakes, holding a hand out to stop Blair from taking off.

"What is it, man?"

Jim ignored him as he listened intently.

"Got conked over the head. Woke up in a basement with three of these big crocodile-gorilla crosses arguing over who got the tastiest bits. At least, I think that's what they were doing. Couldn't understand anything they were saying, if you call grunting speech."

"I should ... " Buffy started.

"Buffy, whatever they were, they're long gone, and this isn't the 'dale. Finding three critters in LA is going to be a really tall order." Xander said. "And I don't want to interrupt your time with your dad anymore than I already have."

"Did they call your folks?" Willow wanted to know.

"Yeah. They got Tony."

Evidently, that was 'enough said', as there was no further commenting from Willow on that subject.

"Do you have any idea how long you're going to need to remain in the hospital?" Giles wanted to know.

"No idea."

The talk switched to more everyday topics from there, and Jim sighed as he tugged Blair out to their rent-a-car. "Kid's been lying to the cops. He knows who attacked him." Jim told Blair once they were in the car. He repeated what he'd heard Xander say.

Blair frowned as he thought it over. "That's ... an odd choice of words and descriptions, Jim." He pointed out.

Jim couldn't help but agree, although. "Could be him trying to pretend whoever did all that to him wasn't human. Some sort of dissociation or something." It happened, with victims.

Blair was nodding in agreement. "Yeah, it could be. Still a little odd."

"No argument there, Chief." Jim said.


	3. Luke, I Am Your Father

Luke, I Am Your Father

A/N: There is no slash in this story. Jessica is just being a very catty B****. Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 2, L.A., Hospital

Jim and Blair returned a little after lunch. They found Willow tucked in a chair next to Xander's bed, but Giles and Buffy were nowhere to be seen. Xander looked to be asleep, which really wasn't all that surprising. Jim knew from experience he'd be fading in and out a lot over the next couple days.

"Hey." Blair greeted Willow. "Where'd the others get to?"

"Buffy had to go back to her dad's. Giles is getting us a hotel room until Xander can go home." Willow said. She got to her feet and then surprised Jim by hugging not only Blair, but himself. "Thank you so much for saving him." Her voice wobbled dangerously, and there were tears in her eyes. "I don't know what I'd do if ... " She cut herself off, refusing to even name that fear.

Jim gave her a slightly awkward pat on the shoulder. "We're just glad we stumbled across him in time." Well, not stumble so much as 'got led to', but there was no way in hell he was telling her that. He was just glad Blair wasn't talking his ear off with theories yet. Looked like Blair was as stumped by this one as he was.

Blair of course was nowhere near as awkward, and returned the hug easily, grinning at Willow as she retreated. Willow went back to her chair. Jim and Blair were just about to leave again, seeing as Xander was sleeping, when a redheaded woman walked in. For half a second, Jim thought it was Willow's mother, but almost immediately dismissed the notion at Willow''s less than pleased reaction to her arrival. Besides, there was something vaguely familiar about her that Jim couldn't quite put a finger on.

"Mrs. Harris!" Willow said, frowning, sounding shocked and oddly ... wary, to Jim's ears. She sat forward and eyed the doorway for several long moments, before finally sitting back and watching Mrs. Harris warily. Jim cocked an eyebrow at her reaction, but the reason for it swiftly became evident.

"What'd he do to himself this time?" Mrs. Harris wanted to know, sounding rather aggravated and not much concerned. Then she spotted Jim over in the corner and her eyes narrowed as she stared at him for a long moment. "James? What are you doing here?" She sounded very suspicious.

Jim blinked. Clearly the woman recognized him, but while there was something familiar about her, he couldn't place her. "We're the ones that found him. Collapsed in the middle of an LA street, bleeding profusely from abdominal wounds." He added that last sentence rather pointedly.

"Rather convenient _you_ were there." She sniped. Jim's confusion must have shown on his face, because she gave a harsh laugh. "Oh, this is rich. You don't even remember me, do you?"

"Vaguely. You look familiar." Jim admitted.

"Too many girls in too many places, hmm?" She sniped. Then she eyed Blair. "Or did you finally get bored and start batting for the other team?"

"Hey, no way." Blair blurted out. "That's totally uncalled for."

Jim's jaw was jumping with the effort it took to not verbally eviscerate the woman. "Leave him out of this." He snapped.

She snorted. "Fine, fine, I'll leave your little catamite alone for now. I suppose I'll just give you a hint. Seattle, 1979."

Weirdly, that's all it actually took. "Jessica." Jim said, finally placing her. He'd been stationed at Fort Lewis for a while, they'd met, had a fairly good relationship for several months, then he'd gotten shipped out. What he couldn't figure out at the moment was why she was sniping at him so viciously. They'd said goodbye on pretty good terms, as far as he could recall.

The answer came in a form he was very much not expecting. The hyena appeared, standing on Xander's bed. Unlike in the dream, the hyena looked to be in perfect health. It whooped, curled up at the foot of Xander's bed and stared first at Jessica, then at him. From the looks on Jessica and Willow's (who was looking highly uncomfortable) faces, neither one of them was seeing the hyena, much to Jim's relief. Seeing it himself was bad enough. Trying to explain it to Jessica and Willow would be so much worse.

Beside him, Blair suddenly inhaled sharply, and his heartrate picked up. "Ohmanohmanohman." He whispered, quiet enough that probably only Jim heard him.

Jim glanced down at Blair. Blair's eyes were wide and stunned, and edging towards the look he got on his face when someone dangled a particularly juicy bit of academia in front of him. "Chief?" Blair looked up at him and then shook his head, refusing to give voice to the sudden suspicion that popped into his head while people 'not in the know' were in the room.

And evidently, the hyena was as impatient with Jim's slowness in clueing in as the jaguar had been, because it jumped down from the bed, butted his leg, feeling surprisingly solid in the process, then turned and nudged at Xander's arm. Jim still wasn't getting it.

"Congratulations." Jessica told him, breaking into his attempts to figure out what the critter only he and Blair could see was up to. "I really did think you'd forgotten."

Jim snorted. "Why are you so angry? I thought we left on good terms."

"Oh, we did. But that was before I discovered you left me with a parting gift I really didn't want." Jessica sniped.

And _that_ is when Jim finally clued in. He stared at Xander for a moment in stunned disbelief, then finally tore his eyes off the kid and looked at Jessica. "He's mine?" He'd always been careful, but no contraceptive method was foolproof ... and Xander being his son would explain why the jaguar (and wolf) had led him to the kid. Certainly, Jim hadn't been able to think of any other reason why the heck he'd be led to the kid.

"And welcome to him. If I'd been able to find you, I'd have dropped him on your doorstep after he was born. He's been nothing but trouble."

Jim's eyes narrowed as he pinned her with a lethal glare. He sincerely doubted that Xander had actually been trouble. From the sounds of things, she'd taken out her frustrations on the poor kid. It left an acid taste in his mouth, remembering how acrimonious his own childhood had been with a father that really hadn't wanted anything to do with him. "I seriously doubt Xander was actually the one at fault, Jessica." Jim growled.

Jessica just barked another laugh. "Whatever. And now he's caused even more trouble than ever. What we're going to do with him in this state, I don't know. I don't have the time to babysit him."

And she clearly hadn't from day one, evidently. Jim looked at Xander, the hyena sitting on the floor, staring at him, waiting. Mentally, Jim scrambled. His loft was just barely big enough for two people as it was ... shit. They'd manage. He could find an actual house or a bigger apartment later. Like hell he was leaving Xander to dangle in the wind, even if the kid wasn't his. Poor kid couldn't even feed himself at this point, with his arms as messed up as they were, and he'd need months of physical therapy to recover from the attack. And if Xander really was his ... well, there was no way he was going to be the asshole his own father had been. "I'll take it from here, then." He fairly growled at Jessica.

She laughed. "Like I said, you're welcome to him. Good riddance." And she flounced out.

Jim was deeply tempted to go after her and do something he normally didn't do with women (unless they were perps, of course) ... flatten her. He took a couple deep breaths to try to get his frayed temper back under control.

Willow had gone from looking highly uncomfortable to out-and-out crying. Blair headed over to her and crouched down. "Hey. It'll be ok." He told her.

"N-n-n-o it w-w-w-on't." Willow sniffled. "Y-y-y-ou t-t-t-two live in W-w-w-w-w-ash *hic* ington!"

Jim snorted. "Yeah we do, but that doesn't mean you'll never see or hear from Xander again, kid. Actually, he's probably going to need you around more than ever. We'll figure something out."

Willow looked up at him with wide, wounded eyes. "You p-promise?"

Jim nodded. "Yeah, I promise, Willow. I've been getting the feeling you're pretty much the only one who's cared if Xander lived or died for quite a while. I'm not about to yank that away from him." He rubbed at his face. "I'm just glad he was asleep for that." Nobody needed to hear their own parent say stuff like that and then walk out without a backwards glance. It was a seriously shitty thing to do. The sort of thing he'd expect his own father to pull, honestly, though with a bit more knife-twisting added in for flavor.

Oh hell. His father. When word got out he'd procreated, all hell was going to break loose. Jim snorted, almost relishing the chance to deal with his father once and for all, one way or the other. God knew that William Ellison wasn't going to get his hands on Xander to ruin the kid completely.

"You'd better go catch up with her, man, and make sure the hospital knows you can take Xander with you." Blair pointed out.

Jim cursed and hustled out of the room. Fortunately, he managed to catch Jessica at the elevator.

"Now what do you want?" She demanded.

"Your signature saying I can take Xander out of here when he's released." Jim growled at her. "They won't take my word for it I'm his father, you know."

Jessica snarled. "Damnit, that kid's trouble even when I manage to get rid of him. Fine. Let's go. I'll mail you his shit later." She veered off towards the nurse's station.

Jim ground his teeth in an effort to keep from slapping the woman. She'd been rather pleasant, all those years ago. Not the love of his life, certainly, but nothing like the vicious-tongued harpy she was now. He vaguely wondered what had happened to her to turn her so nasty, or if she'd been like this all along and had just hid it from him. Certainly, they hadn't been together for a great enough length of time for her to 'slip up' and reveal her true self, if that was the case.

The next hour or so were rather interesting, between getting the appropriate papers signed and (privately) commiserating with the rather horrified hospital officials who were having to deal with them both. Jim was not exactly at his happiest at the moment, and Jessica was being a bitch. Finally, they got all the hooplah dealt with and Jim could return to the ... his son's hospital room.

Damn, that was going to take some getting used to. He'd have to arrange for a paternity test to be sure, of course, but ... well, even if the kid wasn't his, something was going on here, and the kid needed help, and the good knew Jim could afford to host the kid for a while, thanks to blood money he'd gotten from the Army over the whole Peru mission mess.

Just outside the door, he heard Xander's voice and stopped dead in his tracks, half afraid to go in. Then Xander's heatrate went through the roof and he really didn't have a choice. He hurried in.

Xander was staring at the foot of his bed (and the hyena, which had returned there sometime after Jim had left), his entire body rigid. He reeked of horrified terror , but weirdly, the emotion didn't seem to be making it to his face.

"So what'd I miss during my nap?" Xander wanted to know, his voice a little high and a little tight, but that would be easy to explain away as him being in pain still. "'cause my Willow-girl's all sniffly and that's never a good thing, and Blair's all with the googly eyes and I'm thinking that means something happened so please tell me, because if you don't I'm going to start thinking I'm dying or something here."

Jim blinked. Well, the kid could definitely babble, even when he wasn't hopped up on pain meds as he'd been earlier this morning. "You're not dying." He said. "Your mother showed up."

"Oh god. Don't tell me. She insulted the doctor or something," Xander said in a long-suffering voice.

"Something a bit more than that, actually." Jim said, then sighed. God, he really wanted to hurt Jessica about now. "Your mom and I knew each other a long time ago."

"And she yelled at you or something?" Xander asked. Willow reached over and curled her fingers around his.

"Well, that too." Jim said. Which had Blair huffing in amusement. "She ... well, let it be known that Tony wasn't actually your father." Shit, he was such a coward, but really, how in hell did you tell someone something like this?

Xander blinked, blinked again, then gave a shaky laugh. "Ok. Wake up anytime, Xander. It's nice to be away from the owwies for a while, but really. Dreaming the guy that saved your ass is telling you Tony's not your father while a damn hyena's sitting on your bed staring at you is just a little on the wiggy side of life."

Willow's eyes went huge, and her heartrate abruptly skyrocketed. "Xander?" She asked in a small, worried-sounding voice. "You see ... you're not asleep, Xander." Her gaze darted to the end of the bed, skating over the hyena without actually seeing it. "I think maybe they need to turn the meds down." She finally told Jim. "'cause he's hallucinating a little or something."

"I'm not ... oh god. Damnit. Yeah. I really am high as a kite, aren't I?" Xander said, his voice shaking.

Jim eyed Blair, who was looking between the two kids. Snickering at Xander for 'seeing' something when he was apparently high as a kite, he could understand from Willow, but she was edging towards panic and outright fear, and Xander was already there. Had been since he'd first spotted the thing, despite not exactly looking scared. Something odd was definitely going on here.

As if it sensed its presence was not helping matters, the hyena blinked out of existence. Xander's entire body relaxed and he closed his eyes in relief. "'sgone, Wills." He muttered.

Willow looked immensely relieved, and rallied. "You're awake though, and I'm here to totally back Mr. Ellison up on the whole 'your mom saying Tony's not your dad' thing. Except she kinda also said Jim was your dad. They met in Seattle or something."

Well, that was one way to break the news.

Xander blinked at his best friend. Eyed the end of the bed again, then looked at Willow. "Run that by me again?" He asked.

"Mr. Ellison's your dad." Willow repeated.

Xander dearly wished he could ... well, something. Pace, move, run away, anything rather than being stuck in this damn bed right about now. Christ. He'd wished practically all his life ... He closed his eyes, jaw clenched. He wasn't going to ask the obvious question. He didn't need to find out that Jim knew and hadn't given a shit. Xander Lavelle Harris didn't get happily ever afters. He just didn't, and he really, really didn't need another kick while he was down.

"If I'd known, I'd have been there." Jim's voice rumbled. "I was in the Army at the time. Your mom and I met, had a good time for several months, then I got shipped out. She apparently found out she was pregnant sometime after I left, and either didn't try to contact me or tried but couldn't get a hold of me. Either way, I didn't know."

Xander's heart twisted painfully and he took several deep, shaky breaths trying to keep from crying. Stupid meds. After several long moments, he opened his eyes. "So now what?"

"Now? Now, you're coming to Cascade with me. At least for the summer. It'll take you that long to heal up completely." Jim said. "After that, well, we'll work that out when we come to it." Jim motioned towards Willow. "Already told your best friend here she's more than welcome to call, write, and even show up at our door whenever she wants to see you." And he'd pay for the plane or bus fare, if it came to that.

That seemed to be the final reassurance Xander needed, because he sagged even further into the bed. "Ok." Then he sighed. "I'm getting kind of tired again."

Which was a rather blatant lie, but Jim was willing to let it stand. "Yeah, we'll head out for a while, come back later tonight or tomorrow."

He practically had to drag Blair out of the room. Once they were in the elevator, Blair started to bounce hard enough to jostle the elevator. "He saw the hyena, Jim. I wonder why he was so freaked out? I mean, I'd be a bit freaked at seeing an animal like that but he was like, way stressed. More than made sense, you know?"

"Yeah. And Willow nearly went off the scale when he mentioned a hyena, too." Jim said. "So I'm wondering what the heck the deal is there."

"Jim, man ... you think maybe ... I mean, he's your kid."

"Noticed that, Chief." Jim said, not quite understanding what Blair was getting at.

"Jim, what if he's a Sentinel too?"

"Fuck. I hope not." Was Jim's heartfelt response. "I wouldn't wish this shit on a dog, and they already have better senses than people do." He rubbed his face with one hand. "But if that's what's going on, I'll try to help him with it." He couldn't do any less. At least Xander was young. Maybe, without a dick for a father forcing him to bury and deny the senses, he'd adapt to them better. Jim certainly hoped that would be the case, if Xander turned out to be a Sentinel.


	4. Discussions

Discussions

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 2, L.A.

Jim called Simon the minute they got to the hotel room. Simon was going to have a fit, but he needed to know.

"Simon, I'm going to need some personal time."

"Say that again? You're breaking up." Simon said, his tone surprised. Jim didn't blame him. Normally, Jim had to be forced at gunpoint (ok, not quite, but close enough) to take time off even when he was deathly sick. Taking time off when he wasn't was completely unheard of.

"You heard me the first time, Simon." Jim said, fighting the laugh that wanted out.

"Did Blair slip you something, Jim?" Simon sounded both amused and a bit concerned.

"Probably, but it wouldn't have been enough to pull this." Jim said. Blair was, after all, forever trying to slip health food and supplements into Jim's diet, against Jim's protests.

"Got a lead on the perp, then?"

"No." Jim braced himself for the explosion he knew was coming, arm tensed to yank the phone away from his ear when (not if, when) Simon yelled. "He's my kid."

There was a long, pained silence on the other end of the phone. Jim could hear the never-ending racket that was the Major Crimes unit at the station, a melange of typing, talking, and movement.

"Say that again." Simon demanded, voice tense and almost angry.

"Kid's name is Xander. His mother showed up a couple hours ago. She recognized me. I recognized her. Turns out, the kid is mine." Another pained silence. Jim mentally cringed, waiting for the explosion. He wasn't disappointed. There was the slam of Simon's office door, and then.

"Are you out of your fucking mind, Jim?" Simon bellowed. Jim yanked the phone away from his ear before the first word was fully out of Simon's mouth. "Just because some floozy on the take says a kid is yours ... "

"She wasn't lying, Simon." Jim said. He could hear Simon's teeth grinding over the phone, irritation at being interrupted and at the cloaked reference to Jim's abilities, that Simon was still coming to terms with. "And even if she is ... they've walked away from him. Left him here 'cause he's 'nothing but trouble' and they don't have time in their busy day to deal with him." And if Jim's tone got any more disgusted and sarcastic, it'd be a miracle. "I get the feeling they weren't even going to pay the medical bill, Simon. The kid's going to need weeks, probably months, of therapy to get back in shape, and it's going to be several more days before he can even manage to feed himself because his arms are so messed up." He wished he could tell Simon about the hyena, but that ... wasn't the wisest idea. He'd probably have a coronary for real. Simon had accepted that Jim's enhanced senses existed, but he was still adapting to the knowledge, and had no idea whatever about spirit animals or anything of that ilk.

There was a long, put-upon sigh from Simon. "Dammit, Jim. You really need to stop adopting strays." Some measure of humor returned to his voice.

Jim snorted. "Blair wasn't a stray." He pointed out.

"Yeah, you keep trying to tell me that. This is me believing you." Simon said, now almost laughing. Given that Blair's week to find a new apartment after his warehouse apartment blew up had ended over a year ago, he had reason to be so amused. "I'll give you the time, but dammit, Jim, be careful, all right?"

"You too, Simon, and thanks." Jim hung up, then glanced over at Blair. "I'm going to need to head back to Cascade tomorrow, Blair. Get the loft ready. We're going to have to move, but there's not time to actually move before he gets released. Takes more than a couple days."

"Especially with you and your color coding." Blair teased gently. He'd long since figured out that Jim's anal-retentive streak was his way of compensating for the uncontrollable insanity that was his senses. There was also no way Jim would let a bunch of professional movers come in and pack the loft up, for the same reason, so it was going to be up to them. "You going to be ok on your own?" Jim still had a lot of problems with zoning and spiking, and this would be the first time they'd be away from each other for more than a day since Blair had moved in.

"Yeah, I should be." Jim told him. "Not like I'm going to be tracking perps or anything, so I won't be pushing thing. And it won't take all that long. Get there, clean the place up, clear the living room out, check for any larger apartments to move to, then back."

Blair nodded even as Jim grabbed the phone again to call the airport and see what flights were available.

June 2, Hospital

Xander watched Jim and Blair leave, trying not to mentally freak out. Hyena. Jessica, Tony, dad. HYENA. Gah. No. Hyenas bad. Very bad. Very very bad. And he really wasn't wanting to think about it. Any of it. But he couldn't exactly stop thinking about it. Dad. Hyena. Dad. HYENA! Xander gave his head a sharp shake, annoyed at the nearly hysterical circling thoughts, and glanced over at Willow, searching for and finding an escape from his thoughts.

"So Wills, what really happened, now that the amazing Xander-saving duo are gone?" He asked.

Willow gave him a wide-eyed look. "Xander ... you just ... your dad ... "

"Not thinking about that. Totally not. So I'm wanting to know what all else I missed while I was asleep." He'd freak and flip out ... oh, who was he kidding. "Jesus. He's really not my dad. I mean, all that time and ... Crap. What if he's worse than Tony?"

Willow shook her head, wishing she could hug Xander to comfort him, but that so wasn't an option for a while yet, not as banged up as Xander was. "I don't think he is. You should have seen him, Xander. I think he wanted to punch your mom in the face for the stuff she was saying, and I kinda wanted to help him. She was being way totally over the line in mean."

"I was afraid of that. What'd she say?" Xander asked, looking torn between wanting to know and not wanting to know. At least it was distracting him.

Willow's eyes got big, and then she narrowed them. "Sneaky, mister! Very sneaky. We are not talking about missed-out-on things. We are talking about dads and how to deal with them!"

Xander pouted a bit at having got caught. "Not at my best to plot and plan, Wills. Brain's more than a bit fuzzy. And I probably need to get them to switch me to something else because I really don't need a trip down bad-memory lane and oh crap." If he could have clapped a hand over his mouth, he would have. Damn the pain meds he was on, giving him verbal diarrhea. Willow and Buffy were _not_ supposed to find out he remembered, damnit, and Willow would not let that comment pass.

"Bad memory ... Xan?" Willow asked, eyes wide. "I mean, we told you some of ... but you ... you remember?"

Xander looked deeply pained for a moment, then closed his eyes and pushed his head into his pillow in frustration. "Fuck. Really need off the meds. Yes, I remember. Everything. But so help me, Willow, you tell Buffy, and I ... well, I don't know what I'll do but I'll figure something out and you won't like it, missy!" Somehow, the threat lacked any perceptible danger, what with him flat on his back in bed.

"But ... why didn't you tell us you remembered?" Willow asked, lip wobbling.

"Because I wish I didn't? Because I did some really unforgivable things and I thought it'd be easier for you guys to forget about it if you thought I didn't remember? Because I hate myself for having hurt you and Buffy? Because it rates right behind losing Jesse as 'crappiest day of my life'? Pick a reason, Wills, and it's probably on my list." Xander said, eyes still closed.

Willow's eyes had gotten very wide, and she reached over and put a hand on his. "Oh, Xander. Sometimes, you really are silly. It wasn't you! We know that! We knew that! There was, is nothing to forgive, you big dork. And yeah, hurting and scaring us can't be fun for you to remember but that doesn't mean you have to carry it alone, mister! We're best friends, aren't we? Best friends tell each other things!" She scolded. Xander finally opened his eyes and let out a half-amused snort. From the look in her eye, she dearly wanted to swat him for being such a dunce, but didn't dare because he was already hurting.

It was oddly comforting to get a Willow-scold, even if he didn't really believe her, not in his heart of hearts. Xander would probably always hate himself more than a little for that mess, always think he could have, should have fought harder, stopped himself. Not gone into the hyena house in the first place. Something, anything other than being the pathetic loser who hurt his best friend and came frighteningly close to raping his other friend. Gah. "Still. Don't need to be seeing hyenas everywhere. Very wiggy." He finally said.

Willow nodded. "Yeah. Especially since you got demon-napped, you know? They could have done something. We ought to tell Giles when he gets back, so he can check things out."

That made sense to Xander, even as he shuddered in horror at the thought of the demons 'doing something' while he'd been knocked out. Wiggins-ville, that. "Yeah. It'll set my mind at ease, anyway. I really, really, really don't need or want to be hyena boy again. Like, ever. Ever ever."

Willow agreed with that wholeheartedly. She changed the subject a bit, getting it off the hyena, even though the only other subject she could think of was ... not all that happy either. "He's planning on taking you to Cascade." She said quietly.

Xander sighed. "It's probably for the best for right now, Wills. You know Jessica and Tony won't lift a finger to help me, and I'm going to be in rough shape for a while. On top of that ... I'll be easy pickings for the nightlife for quite a while. Cascade's got to be safer, if Jim's on the level. I'll work on figuring a way back to the 'dale after I heal up, I promise. I'm not about to leave you'n Buffy in the lurch." Then he grinned. "And hey, maybe Jim can show me a thing or two in the meantime, you know? So I'm not quite so pathetic on patrol."

Willow scowled. "Hey, mister! You're not pathetic, so stop with the thinking you are!" She really wished he would. She knew why he thought he was such a pathetic loser ... the reasons were named Jessica and Tony ... but he honestly wasn't pathetic in any way, shape, or form.

Xander snorted. "Right, I'm not pathetic. You run circles around me at school, I'm of more use as helpless bait than as a fighter when it comes to the nightlife ... "

Willow shook a finger at him. "You just stop right there, mister. So you're not a genius or ... or Chuck Norris." Xander snickered at that. "Unless you're forgetting mister, you're in the same classes I am, and you manage passing grades. You think all of those classes are normal ones?" Willow'd been bright enough that her parents had been offered the option to let her skip a grade two years ago, but Willow had point-blank refused to leave Xander behind. The compromise solution had been for Willow to go into some advanced classes in the areas she did best at ... and she'd dragged Xander along with her. He didn't get A's in those classes, to be sure, but he still managed passing grades, so he was brighter than he realized. "And it takes longer than a year to get good at fighting. Neither of us had a reason to learn, before now. You'll get there."

Xander blinked at Willow, stunned at her revelation. "Wait a minute, you mean I've been in advanced classes ... how long has that been going on?"

"Since last school year. I was doing well enough that they thought I could use the challenge, and I picked the classes I knew you did best in, and conned them into letting you sign up for them too." Ok, so it wasn't the whole truth, but if Xander found out she'd turned down the opportunity to skip a grade in the name of staying with her best friends, he'd never forgive himself, and that was the last thing he needed right now. Or ever.

Xander went to say something, but a massive yawn surprised him. He sighed. "Gonna finish this later, Wills. I'm about to conk out again."


	5. Yet More Chats

Yet More Chats

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 3, L.A.

Fortunately for Xander's sense of well-being, Giles showed up early the next morning. By then, Xander and Willow (who had left after Xander fell asleep the night before, then returned first thing) had abandoned fretting over hyenas and dads for arguing (amiably) about pretty much anything and everything, as Xander was having a hard time concentrating on anything thanks to the drugs.

"Giles! Man! Good to see you again. Man, it has seriously been a wiggins-worthy day, I'll tell you what. I mean, what with finding new dads and seeing hyenas and really, it's been freaky with a side of weird and a topping of what the hell."

Giles' eyes went wide and he cleared his throat before grabbing his glasses to clean them. "I ... Xander ... that is ... " He shot Willow a look.

"Mr. Ellison is Xander's real dad, or at least he says he is." Willow explained. "Mrs. Harris showed up and they recognized each other and she told him but Xander was asleep so Xander found out later and while they were talking about it Xander said something about seeing a hyena and thinking he was asleep but he totally wasn't because I wouldn't have been dreaming the exact same thing he did except for seeing the hyena but maybe the hyena was the drugs?"

Giles just blinked at Willow a few moments, trying to parse and process the babble. "Mr. Ellison claims to be Xander's father?"

"No ... his mom said he was." Willow corrected, frowning. "Said Mr. Ellison'd left her with a present she really didn't want." From her tone, she was very, very not pleased about that comment, but that was hardly surprising. "And she said a lot of really mean things and then just left. She wasn't even going to try to take care of Xander, and Mr. Ellison said he'd take Xander with him until he healed up because he really can't be alone, and I don't want him to go all the way to Washington, but ... "

"Wills, slow down. Think you're baffling the G-man there." Xander said, sounding highly amused as he watched Giles try to polish his glasses into nonexistence.

"Oh. Sorry." Willow said, blushing a bit.

"I shall attempt to do what I can to ascertain Mr. Ellison's credentials." Giles reassured them both. "Now, what was this about a hyena? Xander, I thought ... "

"Giles, I kind of told Willow." Xander admitted. "She grumped at me a bit for lying about it, but she's not uber-freaked about me remembering." He grimaced. "We are both, however, rather a bit worried about the fact I saw a damn big hyena sprawled all over the foot of my bed staring at me like I was lunch."

Giles frowned, and finally put his glasses back on. "I see. That is worrying. I cannot do much about it at the moment, but as soon as we return to Sunnydale, I will see what I can find. It may be that it was, indeed, just the drugs, but it pays to be cautious, given past events."

"No kidding." Xander said fervently.

"Have you perceived any return of the mental state that accompanied the possession?" Giles wanted to know.

"Don't think so, no, but I'm also a bit drugged up at the moment, so that could be affecting it." Xander said. "I can at least say for sure the senses that came with the spirit aren't evident, or I'd be going nuts about now. Hospitals stink bad enough with a normal nose."

Giles gave a firm nod. "Well, that you're not being subjected to the same emotional state is an encouraging sign. However, if you perceive a return of that state ... "

"I will be booking it back to Sunnydale three seconds later, everything else be damned, so you can lock me up until you figure out what in hell's going on." Xander said firmly.

"Quite."

They chatted for a bit more, but then it was lunchtime, and they both got chased out, for which Xander was deeply relieved. He'd probably get a Willow-scold if he 'fessed up, but he really didn't want Giles, Willow, or Buffy seeing him having to be fed. Oh, he knew Willow would volunteer for the duty in a heartbeat, but he just ... yeah. No. A guy has to have _some_ sort of pride and ego, right? So he was totally drawing the line at this. It was embarrassing as hell, and easier to deal with when it was a relative stranger doing it. By the time it was over, he was ready for bed, and slipped easily into sleep.

And dreamed.

_He was loping easily across sun-baked grasslands. Wildebeest, zebra, antelopes of every description, giraffes and a myriad of smaller animals were scattered as far as the eye could see. In the distance, a lion roared, and he veered in another direction, not wanting to cross paths with the larger beast when alone._

And he was alone. That was not good. He needed ... he was searching for ... something. Something that kept tugging at him, pulling him gently. There was no sense of urgency or danger, just a desire to find that which he sought. But it was not here. Not yet. With the dogged patience of a long-distance hunter, he kept moving, knowing he would get there eventually, and find what he was looking for.

He blinked awake the next morning and gave a purely mental shake of his head. That did it. He was making them lower the drugs. He was so not needing to dream stuff like that. Seriously. Willow showed up shortly after breakfast with Blair in tow, and he greeted them both.

"Hey Wills. Mr. Sandburg."

"Just Blair, Xander. You're going to be seeing a lot of me. I ride along with Jim at work. Working on a dissertation about the 'thin blue line.'." Blair grinned. "That and last year my warehouse apartment blew up. Someone was cooking meth in the other half of the warehouse and _boom_. So Jim let me move in with him."

"Really? That was nice of him." Xander said.

"He headed back to Cascade this morning, to get stuff ready for when they let you out of here." Blair said. "He should be back sometime tomorrow."

"In the meantime, you can dish all the dirt on the Jim-man." Xander said with a grin, which got a laugh out of Blair.

"Oh man, dirt. Yeah, you could say I have some of that." Blair said with a grin.

The next couple hours had both Willow and Xander grinning and giggling as Blair tattled on Jim about some of his foibles and less-than-shining moments, though Blair was careful to never bring up anything directly related to the whole Sentinel gig. Xander might be one (or have the possibility of being one, since so far there wasn't any obvious signs of enhanced senses), and as Jim's kid he definitely had a right to know, but this wasn't the time or place for it, and besides, he and Jim hadn't actually talked about telling Xander so Blair didn't know if Jim would be ok with it.

"Now you know ... " Blair started.

"I never heard any of it from you." Xander said with a grin, still snickering. It hurt more than a little to laugh, but it felt good to at the same time. Definitely good to get his mind off things for a bit.

The day just got better a little before dinner. There was a knock and then Buffy poked her head around the door. "Hey, Xander. You awake in here?"

"Yup. Just shooting the breeze with Willow and Blair." Xander said.

She came in and gave his hand a squeeze, which was about as good as anyone could do by way of a hug. "How you doing?" She wanted to know.

"Fair to middling. Being stuck flat on my back sucks, but they're talking about starting me getting sat up tomorrow, which ought to be loads of fun." Xander grimaced. He was very much not looking forward to that, even if he knew it was a completely necessary thing. "And a bit babbly with the whole pain meds thing, but then I tend to babble even at the best of times, so hey."

Buffy grinned at him. "Well, if you're babbling, it can't be too bad. I'll save the worry for a babble-less Xander."

Xander showed his great maturity by sticking his tongue out at her. "Hey ... I kinda need to tell you, unless Giles did?"

"Told me what?" Buffy asked. Well, that answered that question, didn't it?

"Umm ... turns out, the guy that saved my neck is my dad. Mom showed up and blabbed."

Buffy blinked. "Whoah. That's ... kinda freaky. I mean ... " She slid a look Blair's way, clearly wanting to say something else, but they had company.

"Yeah, I know. Definitely of the weird. Good news is, he's willing to let me schleb around his place while I'm stitching myself back into a fully Xander-shaped piece, so that's of the good. I was so not looking forward to trying to deal with my folks like this." That way lay much badness, no question about it.

"But ... but that's, like, Washington!" Buffy objected, sounding nearly as put out as Willow had been.

"It's just for the summer, Buffy. Just pretend it's a vacation, ok? I'll be back." Xander told her. And he would be, too, one way or another. He couldn't, wouldn't walk out on the fight. Not after Jesse, and for damn sure not after the whole Master mess. Someone had to watch Buffy's back. Angel for damn sure wasn't, even if Xander had trusted the backstabbing liar, and Giles seemed to waffle between watching her back and not.

Buffy bit at her lip, but then sighed and nodded. "Yeah, yeah. Ok. Just the summer, though, mister, because otherwise I will come to Washington and drag you back. And I'm pretty sure Willow will be only too glad to help!"

Xander grinned at that. "No worries, Buff. You ladies are my best friends. I'm not in a big hurry to leave that behind."

"Hey, where is Mister Muscles anyway? And if you tell him I called him that, you're dead meat!" Buffy wanted to know.

"Back in Cascade, evidently, arranging things so I can go there." Xander answered.

Blair just sat back and watched the whole thing. He was a people-watcher by trade. Anthropology was, at its heart, all about observation of detail. It helped that Xander, Buffy, and Willow seemed to have forgotten his presence entirely. There was so much going on here Blair didn't even know where to begin. Xander and his friends were more than a bit of a mystery. First, the faking not knowing what had happened, when according to what Jim had overheard, Xander knew at least some of it. Then there was the over-reaction to the hyena by Willow. Xander's reaction was at least a touch more understandable, as he could see it. Willow, however, hadn't been able to see it, but had reacted with very real fear when Xander mentioned it. And now this little chat, which was so full of undecipherable (to him) subtext it wasn't funny. He was dying to poke his nose in and start asking questions, but somehow he didn't think that would go over any too well, so he kept his mouth shut, consoling himself that he'd have all summer to work on Xander. He also made a mental note to tell Jim that Xander intended to return to Sunnydale. Blair didn't know what that was about, but he foresaw a rather spectacular argument at some point in the future when the subject came up. Jim would want Xander to stay in Cascade.

June 3, Cascade, Washington.

Jim survived the plane trip to Cascade, if only barely. He grimaced and shook his head to try to clear the racket from his senses as he headed for the loft.

It took all of about an hour to make sure the walkways were clear of Blair's usual detritus, but several more to find a futon he thought wouldn't kill Xander's back and that the kid would be able to get out of until the full move was accomplished. He then had to set the thing up and rearrange the front room to accommodate it. It'd be a tight fit, but livable.

Then he went and grabbed his paperwork on the building. If he remembered right, there were a couple of apartments not being rented at the moment. One of them might be big enough to hold the three of them. Fifteen minutes of flipping through papers found him his answer. There was one. Better, for Xander's sake anyway, it was on the ground floor, and had three bedrooms. Small ones, by the measurements listed (the biggest was 12 feet square), but they'd each have rooms to themselves, which was definitely a good thing for the longer term.

That done, he called Simon to let him know what all was going on. "Hey Simon."

"Jim. How's the kid."

"Hopped on painkillers and a little wigged about finding out his dad wasn't who he thought it was, but otherwise fine the last time I saw him. I'm kind of worried about what he and Blair will do, teaming up on me." Jim told Simon.

Simon snorted in amusement. "Bit of a brat then, is he?"

"Not so you'd notice, but he's definitely got a weird sense of humor on him, though that could easily be the drugs talking. Anyway, how're things going?"

"Fine here. Rafe and H wrapped their case earlier today. No sign of any new crazies for the moment, but knowing this town, that won't last long, so hurry and get your ass back here, you hear me?"

"Right. Will do, Simon. Hopefully Xander will be cut loose in a couple of days, though getting him here will be fun. Think I'm going to have to rent a van for the trip ... sitting up for most of the day when your stomach's been torn up and stitched back together just a week ago is not fun."

"Hmmm, true."

"Talk to you later, Simon." Jim hung up. He still had another couple hours until his return flight, so he started boxing a few things. Eventually, it was time to head for the airport, and he locked up the loft before heading out.


	6. New Horizons Approaching

New Horizons Approaching

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. Someone from SG-1 finally makes an appearance!

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 7, L.A.

For Xander, the next three days were pure hell. His physical therapy began. It was rather embarrassing, humiliating, downright frustrating and not to mention painful as hell to try to work arm and torso muscles that had been put through the grinder and were now staging a revolt. At first, sitting up under his own power for five or ten seconds at a stretch had him sweating buckets and all but biting through his lip to keep from saying something extremely rude to the therapist. Moving his arms was just plain agony. But, with the promise of 'be able to sit up on your own for half an hour and we'll let you out of here', Xander had a mission, and kept working at it relentlessly.

The three days passed in a haze of pain and exhaustion ... if he wasn't exercising or eating, he was sleeping. And the few moments in between each, he wasn't much by way of company to anybody, too sore and out of sorts to be his usual goofy self. Not that that stopped Willow, or Buffy, or even Giles. Or Blair or Jim, come to that. Both Jim and Buffy (Buffy only when Jim and Blair weren't present) played spotter for him during his exercises. Jim endured Xander's grumping without returning it in kind. Buffy just distracted him from the grumpies as much as she could with a nearly non-stop stream of chatter. It did help, a little. Some of the time. There were times he wanted to snap at her to shut up, but he managed to keep his mouth shut.

Eventually, on the third day, he managed to sit under his own power for the required half hour. It helped that the bruising, which had been a large part of the problem, had gotten past the really painful stage, fading from nearly black to something close to green. The therapist (whom Xander had taken to calling Mister Sadist in his head) congratulated him and later that day the doctor showed up. One final check up of everything and the doctor agreed he would be free to go the next day. Xander was deeply relieved to be getting the heck out of the hospital.

Blair had spent the last three days watching everyone, and poking around a bit, to no avail. He eventually decided to figure out how to get them all to Cascade once Xander was free to go, and by the time Xander was told it would be possible, he'd found a schedule for trains with sleeper cars that were headed for Cascade. It was a better option than driving, at least. More comfortable for Xander, certainly.

The next morning, Xander got a bit of a surprise. Giles, Willow and Buffy piled in the door the minute visiting hours started, bringing with them cake and other illicit foods hidden in their pockets, purses, and in the 'gift bags'. Xander wished he could hug them.

"Oh man. I officially love you guys. It's been way, way too long without my sugary goodness." He mumbled around a Twinkie, the first thing he'd gone for when the booty had been revealed in all its glory.

Buffy grinned. "Hey, we figured that might have been part of the problem the last couple days. No snacks makes for a grumpy Xander?"

"Yeah, it does." He agreed. Oh, they all knew there'd been other things to make him grumpy, but hey, sugar! Who cared! "I'm really going to miss you guys." He said, then eyed Willow. "You're going to be careful, right?" He demanded.

"Yeah, definitely. No going out after dark for me. Maybe once Buffy gets back but until then, nuh uh!" Willow shook her head firmly.

Xander sighed in relief. "Good. I'd never forgive myself if you get hurt with me gone." He admitted.

Giles shook his head a bit. "I have done what research I can while away from my library." He said. "Unfortunately, given your rather sparse description, I haven't been able to ascertain what it was that attacked you."

Xander blinked at Giles a little bit for that somewhat odd comment, then figured out what he meant, considering Giles had already mentioned trying to research the demons that got him. The hyena thing. He'd evidently not been able to find anything conclusive in the few books he'd brought with him. Not really surprising, that, though Xander appreciated the attempt.

"No big, Giles. I'll know 'em if I ever see them again ... and promptly run the other way!"

"You better, mister!" Willow scolded.

Down the hall, Jim cursed. He'd heard Xander's last comment. "Damn, looks like they were talking about the attack again, and I missed it." He told Blair. "Should have started listening the moment we got here."

Blair's eyebrows went up. "Man, something is so going on with those three. I would really like to know what."

"That makes two of us, Chief." Jim told him. They closed the rest of the distance to Xander's room in relative silence, then Jim poked his head around the door. "Hey, Xander. Looks like quite the party in here."

"Come join the fun, Jim." Xander invited.

He'd sort of shoved the whole 'he is my dad' thing into a corner of his mind, and was basically treating Jim like he would any friendly not-evil adult. It was just easier that way, at least until he'd gotten his head around the whole thing. Jim seemed to be pretty ok with it, which helped. The two of them came in, and Blair put a bag of his own on Xander's lap.

"Since your stuff got torn up, I figured you'd probably need a new shirt and pants to get out of here in." Blair said.

Xander blinked. That hadn't even occurred to him. "Oh. Duh. Yeah, yeah, I will. Thanks!" Moving carefully, he managed to tip the bag over so that he could see the contents. A pair of new black sweat pants and an old-looking, enormous button-up in faded blue. The arms had been cut off to allow for the bulk of the splints, and with it being so oversized, it'd fit over the wrappings around his chest and stomach. "Oh man, thanks. I really appreciate it. I'd completely forgotten about my shirt at least being a total write-off." And loose, easily pulled up sweat pants would make his life that much easier, too.

"No problem, Xander. No problem at all." Blair told him. "So any word on when they're going to bring the papers around?"

"Not for a few hours. I don't think doctors get up before noon unless it's an emergency."

Blair chuckled and shot a sideways look at Jim, remembering 'Dr. McKay'. "I don't think that's quite true, man."

"Maybe not, but it sure seems like it sometimes." Xander shot back with a grin.

June 7, Colorado Springs, Colorado

Jon O'Neill was slumped in the living room of his tiny little apartment, staring vacantly at the television. He was, frankly, bored out of his damn mind, and restless as hell. Whose bright idea had it been, again, for him to go through frickin' high school? Oh yeah, that would be him. Stupid idiot. God. What had he been drinking when he came up with this shit?

He missed the SGC. He missed Daniel and Sam and Teal'c and, god help him, he actually was getting to the point where he was beginning to think of Freya/Anise with something approaching fond nostalgia. This was really frakkin' bad news. Anytime he started thinking of anyone short of Jacob Carter who had a snake with fondness, he had officially gone off the deep end.

And he'd go right on missing them, too, dammit. Because HE still had that life, which wasn't for Jon, and probably wouldn't ever be. He had years to go yet before he'd even be eligible to sign up for the Air Force again, and by then, well, who knew what the SGC would be like, if it even existed anymore? God knew Kinsey tried hard enough to get the SGC shut down often enough!

And here he was, in a sixteen year old body, stuck in hell. By his own doing, no less. He couldn't even begin to relate to anyone who was his physical age. It'd been too damn long since he'd been a teenager. He'd seen way the hell too much to fake it. Which meant he pretty much had no friends, though the girls seemed to like the whole 'mysterious loner' schtick. Which brought up the other problem. He felt like the world's biggest letch even _thinking_ about romance of any sort with anyone his physical age ... not that he was exactly looking to get hitched anytime soon, or even wanted to, but it was another symptom of his very large problem. He might look sixteen, but as far as he was concerned, he was pushing fifty, and anything even remotely resembling 'romance' with anyone under the age of thirty just wasn't going to happen. And no one that age who was any kind of decent would want to hook up with an apparent sixteen year old.

He thumped his head against the back of the couch in frustration. The worst part of it was that he had an entire summer of pretty much nothing but isolation and boredom to look forward to. Maybe if he called his older half he'd get rescued and be able to hang around people he knew? Dammit, no, that was just pathetic. Not to mention awkward as hell. He'd spend the entire time glaring at the older half and muttering under his breath about getting his life stolen while his older half quietly freaked out about the mini-me. It would not end well.

He sighed and turned on the TV. Might as well get in the bored groove now, right?

June 7, LA

Finally, the doctor showed up, smiling a bit as the evidence of illicit food and drink was hurriedly swept away, but not quite fast enough for him to not see it. Given that Xander was being cut loose, he just pretended not to notice.

"All right, Xander." He said, setting down a folder with a bunch of papers in it. "Your at-home physical therapy sheet for the next few days, as well as a prescription for professional assistance is in here. Care instructions for the wounds are also included. There is also the name and number of a physician I know in Cascade who can oversee your return to fitness. I included a list of what you've been prescribed, and a copy of your medical chart, so you don't have to waste time with the back-and-forth of permissions and such that are involved in changing doctors." He handed over a small bag with several pill bottles in it. "Your medications. Please do not forget to take the antibiotics until they're all gone. The last thing you need is a nasty infection on top of all the other damage."

Xander patted the file and the bag. "Papers and pills, got it."

After that was the signing of papers and getting into a wheelchair, which proved to be all sorts of fun, but eventually the deed was done and the whole group rolled on out of there.

Jim had traded in the rental car for a van with a good-sized seat for the ride to the train station, since seat belts were a huge no. The seat would allow Xander to lie down and not worry overmuch. With a bit of help from Jim, he got into the van and then Willow and Buffy crowded in, saying their (highly temporary) goodbyes.

Willow rested her cheek on his shoulder in lieu of a hug. "You call, mister!" She demanded. "And I'll come up as soon as you're settled, and we can spend some time together, right?"

Xander grinned at Willow. "Of course. I plan to let you drive Jim and Blair 'round the bend, since I'm a little off my form."

That got a grin from Willow before she let Buffy in. Buffy gave him a long, intense, speaking look. A look that said ... well, a hell of a lot of things she couldn't say in present company without inviting another stay in a psych ward. "I'll come visit too, before I head back for Sunnydale and the school year." She said after a moment. "And I'll call. Lots. You take care." And then, to Xander's everlasting amusement (and embarrassment) she swung on Jim. "And you ... you better be good to him, or I'll ... " Fortunately, she caught herself before uttering a typical Slayer-style threat. "I'll figure out something to do, and it totally will make your life hell, you got me?"

To his credit, Jim didn't laugh in Buffy's face, but then again, Xander mused, he might be able to pick up on the fact that while short, Buffy was definitely no pushover. "Trust me, Buffy. Hurting him is the last thing on my mind." Jim told her.

"See you, Giles. And I expect a call or two from you too." Xander proclaimed.

Giles looked startled for a moment, then vaguely pleased. "I shall make a note of it on my calendar, Xander." He reassured.

And then it was time to go. The seat had been pushed as far back as it would go and Blair, grinning good-naturedly, piled into the space between the front seats and Xander to help Xander scoot all the way back, and to provide assistance to keep Xander from rolling off the seat if brakes had to be slammed or corners turned hard. Jim put the wheelchair in the back, then walked around to the driver's seat and with a last set of waves that he could just see through the side window from his sprawled position, they were off.

The ride to the train station was quiet, but then they parked and Jim unloaded the wheelchair. Getting out of the van was nearly as much of an adventure as getting in, but eventually he managed it and they were on their way. Jim helped Xander get settled in an actual seat, which was surprisingly comfortable, for a bit as they waited for the train to get moving. Xander stared out the window and fought down a sudden fit of depression. He'd known Willow practically all his life, and a few week-or-two long vacations aside, they'd not been apart for more than a day in all that time ... and now here he was, looking at a summer that was going to be largely Willow-less, which sucked beyond the telling of it. Although at least he wasn't this badly injured and still trying to live at home. That would have ended so very, very badly.

"You ok?" Blair asked from the seat across from him. Damn, he must've been doing a sadface.

"Yeah. Just kind of sinking in that I'm going to be spending most of the summer away from Willow. We've not been apart all that much since we met."

Blair nodded quietly. "Yeah, that would definitely be a bummer. Still, she said she'd come up, and she'll be more than welcome, so at least it won't be the entire summer, right?"

"Yeah, you got a point there." Xander admitted.


	7. Misunderstandings and Mysteries

Misunderstandings and Mysteries

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. I have based Cascade's stats on Seattle's, since it was a stand-in for Seattle in the show anyway. Given Sunnydale exists to feed the Hellmouth and demons, forcing people to go there to get information makes sense, hence the scarcity of information on the internet.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 7-9, Cascade

It didn't take long on the train for Xander to realize he had a very real problem. At the hospital, he'd been able to deflect Jim and Blair (mostly Blair) with questions about Jim or Cascade. He'd been able to keep the details of his life pretty well quiet, other than his being friends with Willow and Buffy. They knew next to nothing.

And therein lay the problem. Blair was every bit as curious as Willow was, and probably more. And even if Jim wasn't dying of curiosity, he did have an interest in finding out about Xander. And there was only so long he'd be able to concentrate on the Pre-Buffy years before they wanted to know about her and Giles. Worst thing was, Blair hadn't said a word yet. Xander knew, however, his grace period was more or less over. He could see it in Blair's expression.

"Thinking laying down again would be a good idea." Xander said, grateful for the fact that his body was really not up to extended stays in the land of horizontalness, even if it usually irked him. Ok, it normally annoyed the hell out of him. He kind of hated this. Ok, more than kind of, and the quicker he was back to normal, the better. Jim helped him back into the sleeping car and he sprawled on the narrow bed with a grateful sigh.

"It'll get better, Xander." Jim said, evidently having spotted Xander's less than happy expression.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. In the meantime, it royally sucks." Xander said with a grimace.

"Yeah, I know. Been there, burned the T-shirt." Jim said.

Xander gave an amused snort. "And that is so a good reason for me to never sign up. I really don't need to get torn to bits on a regular basis." And yeah, that was irony, given how he's spent most of the last year. Sheeze.

"Kind of attached to being all in one piece, huh?"

"You could say that." Boy, could he ever, Xander thought. And again with the irony. And Jim giving him a funny look. "I mean, I got nothing against anybody that signs up ... it's a job that's got to be done, you know? It's just not my idea of a good time." His idea of a 'good time' ran to dusting as many vamps as humanly possible while still staying in one piece. Ok, so, mostly hiding behind Buffy while she did the dusting, but hey. Oh, and annoying the life ... err, unlife ... out of Angel while simultaneously being weirded out by the whole souled-vamp thing, because whoah. Bullying him into doing the right thing also rated high on the amusement meter, though thinking of that made him give a slightly irritated snort both for Angel and for Giles, but Angel got most of it, because talk about patheticsville. Giles at least tried, and pretty much had to be stopped via a conk to the head. Angel had just essentially curled up in a corner and started the funeral early. Gah.

""I'll check on you in a couple of hours." Jim told Xander. Xander nodded and faked sleep. Jim headed back out to Blair. "Definitely hiding something. He's faking wanting to sleep to avoid us."

"Man, Jim, this is driving me nuts. What the hell's going on?" Blair said, sounding slightly exasperated, intensely curious, and more than a bit frustrated.

"Dunno, Chief, but I intend to find out when we get back to Cascade. See what Simon can dig up on the lot of them."

"Yeah, yeah. It's just ... "

"Driving you crazy?" Jim finished, with no small amount of amusement.

"Yeah, it is. Something's going on and I want to know what."

"Might be covering for abuse." Jim practically growled. "As bad as Jessica was ... "

Blair grimaced. "Yeah, that could be part of the problem, but it doesn't answer why he's not ... " Blair trailed off and his eyes went wide as an idea occurred to him. "Oh shit. Jim ... what if the people that grabbed him were buddies of Jessica or her husband?"

Jim's expression went murderous. "If they were, I'm going to do some Army interrogation practice on them."

And that would be code for 'break their bones and generally make them wish they'd never been born, Jim Ellison style'. Blair thought. Having seen glimpses of the vicious, ruthless Ranger and Sentinel that hid under the grumpy cop, Blair did not envy anyone that earned Jim's wrath.

"Unfortunately, while it makes a bit of sense." Jim continued. Victims sometimes refused to speak when they knew their attackers, or knew that the attack had been 'called in' by someone they knew. The fear of worse happening was very real, and happened often enough that while keeping their silence annoyed Jim to no end, he understood the mentality that encouraged it. "But not all the pieces fit. Take and terrorize? Yeah. Kill? Especially the way it was attempted, not so much. Those were no knife wounds, Chief. They looked more they'd been done by claws. Damn big ones, too. And it doesn't answer what the other three are hiding, unless they all know about the abuse and are hiding it." Jim sighed. "But even that doesn't explain Willow freaking out about Xander seeing a hyena." It just did not add up. And it was frustrating the holy hell out of Jim.

It was also baffling Blair. There were so many inconsistencies. So much unspoken subtext. He mentally reviewed what he'd seen, mulling it over for the umpteenth time, trying to make sense of the clues with what little context they had. Unfortunately, he just couldn't. There was too much missing.

Despite not being tired when he'd 'run for cover' Xander did fall asleep. His strength and stamina were nil, and combined with the rocking of the train, it took all of about five minutes for him to fall asleep.

Xander never did get to see much of the scenery on the ride. He spent most of it sleeping. Eventually, the train stopped in Seattle, and from there it was an hour's ride to Cascade in another van. Given that seat belts were still a huge no, Xander got a very cockeyed and limited look at Cascade from flat on his back on the seat. Mostly a lot of rooftops. It was rather depressing that he ended up sleeping almost an entire day after arriving, he was so worn out by the travel.

The loft was fair-sized but a touch on the crowded side with the addition of the futon for him to sleep (and sit) on. Fortunately, it was a straight, fairly short shot to the can. Xander eyed the distance off and decided he just might be able to make the distance under his own power sometime next year, at this rate. It also had a very odd-couple feel to it. Most of the main room was very plain and utilitarian, but there was stuff here and there, mostly little things, that just didn't match the rest that was probably from Blair, given what he'd said about moving in after his old place blew up. And if that wasn't a Sunnydale-style story, Xander didn't know what it was. Oh, he was fairly sure demons were not involved, but an apartment blowing up was the sort of thing you expected to hear in good old Sunnydale.

One of the first things that Xander noticed, once he was awake enough, was that Cascade 'felt' different than Sunnydale ever had. Even before he'd known the truth, the 'dale had been a dangerous place. Only the foolhardy or the stupid went out after dark, even if they didn't know exactly why. The town 'felt' dangerous, for lack of a better way to put it. Cascade, on the other hand, well, didn't. Oh, Xander was sure it was no utopia, but it didn't reek of danger and violence. If he needed any more proof of the place being a demon-free zone, the fact they had four cemeteries more than Sunnydale for a population about ten times larger than Sunnydale's kind of sold it. And was very reassuring, though it would make obtaining necessary goodies trickier. And he was betting none of the schools had obituary columns in their papers. Wait ... why was he worrying about getting necessary goodies again? He was so not going to be able to fight off a dustbunny, nevermind a vamp or demon in the condition he was in! Xander shook his head at himself.

Jim was putting things in boxes (which made Xander feel bad, because he knew they were moving to accommodate him) while Blair was puttering around in the kitchen making something that was making Xander's stomach snarl like he hadn't eaten in months.

"Man, Blair, whatever that is, it smells really good." Xander said, which made Blair laugh for some reason.

"Man, finally. Someone who appreciates good cooking." Blair said.

"Watch it, Chief, or I'll make you eat WonderBurgers for a month." Jim shot back.

"Oh, no way man. Those things are heart attacks on greasy buns." Blair complained.

Xander cocked his head slightly. "You guys have a Doublemeat Palace around here?"

"No." Jim told him.

"This WonderBurger place any good?"

"Yeah." Jim said with a grin.

"Definitely going to have to give them a try later then. I can't go too long without my greasy, fatty goodness. Or my sugary goodness." Xander said.

"Oh man. He is definitely your kid Jim. Same eating habits. You're both going to eat yourselves into early graves." Blair complained.

Xander nearly choked on a laugh. Yeah. He was so not worried about eating himself into high cholesterol and dying of a heart attack. At least not a heart attack from that source, anyway. Heart attack from sheer fear was definitely still an option. "Hey, I'm a teenager." He complained. "There is no such thing as enough to eat."

That got a laugh out of both Jim and Blair. "Yeah, I definitely remember those days." Jim agreed. "You play any sports?"

"Does running and hiding from bullies count? 'cause otherwise, no. I'm not really into the sports thing." Xander said, making an apologetic face. "I'm not exactly the biggest brain in school, either, for that matter." Yeah. Only a matter of time before Jim tossed him back where he came from at this rate.

The next twenty-four hours had Xander half-convinced his father was gay. It hadn't been real obvious (especially to someone doped to the gills) at the hospital, but Jim and Blair were almost constantly in each other's space. Giving each other these looks that Xander couldn't quite interpret and really, he kinda didn't want to, or worse, touching. Oh, nothing that was a blatant PDA, but definitely more touchy-feely than any two other guys Xander had ever seen. Plus, that whole 'move in with me 'cause your place blew up' story was ... really thin. It really didn't help that it was the sort of thing that would happen to him. Neat. Got a good dad. Something normal! Except ... not. 'cause he's, you know, into guys. And the thought of that was more than a bit disconcerting.

The only thing that sounded any kind of false note was the fact that Blair most definitely had 'his' space. With a bed just for him. Granted, it was behind a curtain, but it was there. Not that Xander was going to actually ask. Oh no. That way lay badness, if he was wrong. Most straight guys answered 'are you gay' with a punch to the face, and given that Jim was an ex-Ranger and a cop ... yeah. That way lay much badness and a pulped Xander. Considering that he was already rather a bit pulped, Xander was going to opt for the not-asking option.

June 7-9 Sunnydale

Willow was very, very busy on her computer, digging up everything she could find on Blair Sandburg and Jim Ellison. So far, they both seemed to be really good people. Mr. Ellison'd been in the Army quite a while, made it to Captain, had a lot of decorations. He'd also evidently been double-crossed by a higher-up and his entire team killed in Peru, but he still managed to do what he and his team had been sent there to do. She found all sorts of articles about _that_. It'd been a really big deal, back in '88. Mr. Ellison also seemed to be the eldest son of a fairly well-to-do businessman. Blair Sandburg, she had discovered, was something of a perpetual student, and really really smart. He'd been in college (or on digs) since he was sixteen. Specialized in anthropology. Neither man was really at all remarkable in a bad way. It made her feel a good deal better. She'd tell Xander all about it when she headed up there next week.

June 3-9, Cascade PD

The search Rafe was doing for Jim (as a favor) did not return the same reassuring information. It returned yet more of a mystery. A British national who more or less defined the concept of 'overqualified' for his existing job, given that he'd been working with the British Museum at one point. What he was doing in Sunnydale as a librarian was anyone's guess. Similarly, Buffy Summers' history was less than comforting, at least the recent history.

What stressed Rafe out was that there was absolutely nothing about Willow or Xander anywhere on the 'net. Or much of anything about Sunnydale, for that matter. There was a very generic website that touted Sunnydale's pleasant weather and proximity to the ocean and generally encouraged people to come and check the place out, but there was no real, hard data. No census, nothing with any detail at all. Evidently, to find out what he wanted to know, he'd have to go to Sunnydale in person. And that was just plain odd. If Sunnydale was some dinky hick town of a couple thousand, he could understand it, but they boasted a population around 40 thousand, more than big enough to be noticed in official government tallies of various sorts.

So he didn't have much by way of comfort for Jim when Jim stopped by late in the day to check in at the precinct. Jim had glowered at the information Rafe had been able to dig up.

"So we've got a horrendously overqualified librarian, a major troublemaker teen girl, and a massive mystery in the persons of Willow and Xander, and Sunnydale in general? What the hell is going on?" This was just adding to the questions he had, and tempting him to just cut the bullshit, sit Xander down and demand answers, but doing that would completely screw up any chance he had at a halfway amiable relationship with the kid, even he knew that!


	8. Partial Truths

Partial Truths

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 13-16, Cascade

Relative peace reigned for all of twenty-four hours after Rafe gave Jim what information he had been able to get on the various people in Xander's life. Then there was a nasty murder and for the next three days Jim and Blair were running themselves into the ground trying to solve the murder and catch the killer, on very little admissible evidence, which meant Jim was pushing his senses as hard and as far as he could. Worse, Blair was stretched paper-thin with trying to be with Jim during investigations and interrogations and keeping an eye on Xander, who couldn't fend for himself yet.

The results were inevitable. Late in the evening on the third day, an exhausted Jim more or less stumbled into the apartment and headed for the kitchen to get something to eat. Unfortunately, as exhausted as he was, the gleam and glitter of light on metal caught his attention and he zoned. Blair had collapsed an hour previously in his room, having come home early to help Xander, and Xander had been asleep until Jim arrived. Still mostly asleep, it took him a bit to realize that Jim had stopped dead in his tracks and wasn't moving.

"Jim?" He called. Nothing. "Jim?" Louder now. "JIM!" Still nothing. Crap. What the hell? Xander's first worry was some sort of Hellmouth-style possession or something of that stripe, even though they were a long, long way from the Hellmouth. "Blair! Get out here! Something's wrong with Jim!" Xander yelled. He was rather surprised at just how fast Blair responded to that yell.

Blair catapulted out of his room within moments of Xander's call, still clearly mostly asleep, at least until he got a good look at Jim, whereupon he cursed softly and hustled over, squeezing his body between Jim and the door frame so that he was between Jim and the kitchen, one hand rubbing up and down Jim's arm while he spoke softly, trying to break Jim out of the zone. Xander couldn't hear what Blair was saying, but the quietly worried tone was plain. After a few moments, Jim twitched, then gave his head an almost violent shake before looking down at Blair.

"Z - Dozed off, didn't I?" He asked, shooting a glance in Xander's direction as he spoke.

Blair nodded. "I'm calling the station. You need ... "

"No can do, Chief, you know that. Especially not in the middle of a case." Jim grumped.

Blair sighed, then nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I know, but if you're ... falling asleep on your feet ... you need a break."

Jim just looked mulish, turned away from the kitchen and headed up the stairs to his room.

Xander watched the whole thing in quiet confusion. What the heck had that been about? That had been more than just dozing off standing up. Xander ought to know, he'd been there a few times in the last few months, so tired from chasing vamps (or being chased by them, more like) and school he couldn't see straight. A seizure, maybe? Was Jim a mild epileptic or something? Possible, possible. He'd have to see what Willow discovered when she came up in the next couple of days ... though he might have to call her and tell her to wait a few days if this kept up. Neither Jim nor Blair was in any condition to deal with another guest at the moment. He decided discretion was the better part of valor and let the two of them head to their separate beds. At least the whole gay thing was debunked ... whatever the heck was going on, it was clear that Blair was not here for the sex, and could Xander just say he was so very, very, painfully glad? That would have been more awkward than he had words for. Still mulling over the possibilities, he fell asleep.

Jim and Blair got home early on Day Four, Jim looking quietly pleased (if exhausted) and Blair bouncing a good three inches off the ground with every step, exhaustion be damned, and a big grin on his face. Xander couldn't help but grin back at him. "Got the bad guy, huh?"

"Totally. He'd holed up at the docks." Blair confirmed. "Took two hours to get him out of there, but we got him."

"Cool. Should I have Willow wait until next week? You two look pretty shattered after the last few days." Xander wanted to know.

Jim shook his head. "No. We'll be fine. A day's sleep and we'll both be good as new."

"Long's you're sure."

Jim snorted. "This is far from the first time I've had to run myself ragged for a long period, Xander, and Blair's pretty used to it too, though usually for different reasons. We'll be fine."

"Ok, if you say so." Xander so wasn't going to argue. He missed Willow something fierce.

The next day was very quiet, what with Jim and Blair sleeping well into the morning and then rumbling around the loft. The next day, though, was Willow's arrival. Jim took off to pick her up at the airport, since travel was still a pain in the ass for Xander.

She bounced into the loft grinning like a madwoman and flung herself at Xander. "Xander!" Despite the fling, Willow was very careful to be exceedingly gentle with the hug, and kept it mostly around the neck, rather than trying to hug his very ouchy middle. Xander wrapped his arms around her and was pleased that he was able to squeeze enough for it to register as a hug, if only barely, thanks to the splints.

"Hey Willow. Man, I missed you." He mumbled into her hair before pulling away a bit to get a good look at her face. "So, what has the life of Willow been like the last week?"

Willow pouted. "Boring. It's just me and Giles and it's really not fun. Cordelia's being a pain, but then, that's not really news, right?"

Xander laughed. "Definitely not." He agreed. Jim and Blair decided to head out for some takeaway for dinner. Jim was also hoping like hell that Xander and Willow would start talking once he and Blair were gone.

Once they were gone, Xander looked over at Willow. "Ok, girlie, you're bouncing out of your seat. Tell!" He mock-commanded.

Down in the lobby, Jim pulled Blair aside and they tucked themselves into an out of the way spot while Jim eavesdropped shamelessly. He gave Blair a tight grin and a thumbs up. Blair was torn between unease at eavesdropping and a burning desire to figure out what the heck the deal was with Xander.

"Well, they're actually really good people, Xander." Willow said. "I mean, I couldn't find anything really negative about either of them. Blair and his mom seem to have been gypsies, well, sort of anyway. They've been all over, and he's really, really smart. He started college at sixteen! And Jim's an Army Ranger. Or, well, was, anyway. He's got lots and lots of decorations, and about eight years ago or so he got double-crossed by some dirty superior, and his entire team got killed in a helicopter crash, but he still managed to carry out the mission he'd been sent to do, with just him and a bunch of jungle tribesmen."

Xander gave an impressed whistle. "Damn. Remind me never to sign up, right?" He said.

"Yeah, no kidding. I really wouldn't want to have been him. That was more than a little harsh." Willow agreed. "And after he finally got rescued, he quit, then became a cop, and he's been here ever since. He used to work for Vice, but then got transferred to the Major Crimes squad. And then last year Blair popped up, started riding with him for his thesis, and it's been that way since."

Xander nodded. In a lot of ways, it made him feel better. Made it less likely that whatever the hell was going on was something sinister. "Well, Cascade's definitely got either no or next to no demonic crap going on. But something's definitely going on with Jim. I think he might have epilepsy or something. He sort of froze up like someone'd hit his off switch the other day, and oh hell, I really hope he's not a robot."

Willow laughed. "Xander, I don't think he can be a robot if he's your dad, you know?"

"But, but, the real Jim could have been replaced ... " Xander offered. "It would totally be the sort of thing that would happen to me. I mean, heck, after the last year?"

Willow made a face as she nodded her agreement. Weird stuff definitely was their stock in trade at this point. "Anyway, that's what I could find on him. Oh, and his dad's some rich business guy, but they pretty much ignore each others' existence. And he has a little brother, too."

Xander wrinkled his nose. "Ahhh, so the sucky relationships thing is inherited, huh? Oh well. Any word on the gorilla demons?"

"Giles found them a couple days ago, in a really, really old book. They're lower demons, basically used as muscle by the ones that don't want to get their hands dirty."

Xander grimaced. "And no idea who they may have been working for."

"Giles thinks they were working for the Master, and just clearing out now that he's, you know, all dusty. Well, mostly anyway." Willow offered.

"That makes sense. Anything on the hyena?"

"Not a thing." Willow said regretfully. "Everything Giles has found says he did the exorcism right and there shouldn't be any lingering traces or anything, so he's kind of stuck on why you saw it."

"Damn." Xander sighed. "Well, there goes that. At least I haven't seen it again since that one time. Maybe it was just the pain meds? They do say that people can have very trippy reactions."

"Maybe." Willow agreed tentatively. "So how've things been here?"

"Pretty good. Quiet mostly, at least for me. Jim and Blair had to deal with a nasty murder case. That's what led to Jim's seizure or whatever it was, I think. They had kind of been running themselves ragged for several days with next to no sleep. They finally got the bastard, though."

"That's good!" Willow said.

Jim, realizing nothing more was going to be said on the subject of Xander's attack, his past (or, to his consternation, himself) pulled Blair out to the truck and told him what he'd overheard.

"Demons, Jim?" Blair echoed. "And a girl who either can hack like crazy or knows someone who can, to pick up that much information on both of us. Damn. I knew he'd noticed you zoning. I've actually been waiting for him to comment on it somehow, but he's been keeping remarkably quiet."

"This may be why." Jim grumbled. "He has his own secrets and isn't in a mood to share. Dammit, Blair, what the hell is going on in that town?"

"I don't know, Jim, and from what you told me, finding out's going to be an exercise in futility if we try to drag stuff out of the internet." Blair said. "We need to go the direct route."

"Ask him." Jim agreed. "Right, let's get some Chinese and then deal with this."

They returned to the loft about a half hour later, laden with fragrant bags of food. "Hey you two. Hope you're hungry. We didn't know what Willow might like so we got a bit of everything." Blair said.

Xander and Willow both grinned. "Chinese is good." Xander agreed. "Not quite as good as pizza, but definitely up there in the food stakes."

For quite a while, there was nothing except the munching of food, but finally, the cartons were either empty or stashed in the fridge (in their own tupperware containers, thank you. Jim did not tolerate things lying uncontained in his fridge). Jim sat back in his chair, with Blair plopping down on the couch.

"So, ask already." Xander said, startling both men. Willow blinked a bit but grinned at Jim and Blair's startlement.

"Wha? You ... " Blair sputtered.

"You two kept sneaking looks at me and Willow all through dinner." Xander pointed out. "Plus, you've been giving me sideways looks whenever you weren't dead tired from chasing bad guys. So ask. But keep in mind, I will be wanting to ask my own questions later. And I totally, totally disclaim all responsibility if what you learn freaks you out. If you even believe me, that is."

Jim mentally shrugged and decided to dive into the deep end. "So. Demons?" He asked.

That startled Xander in his own turn. "How ... nevermind. I'll ask later. Yes, demons. And before you give me shit, remember, you asked. Basically, all the monsters under the bed you read about in horror stories? They're real. And more besides. And Sunnydale is sort of their hometown." Ok, so that wasn't quite the way it went, but it was close enough, and Xander wasn't about to dish on Buffy unless he got her permission to. He shot a glance at Willow, who reached over and gripped his hand.

Blair looked like he very much wanted to bounce off his seat. "Demons are real? Well, I guess it makes sense. Lots of tribes have tales ... " He started.

Jim interrupted him. "Chief ... demons aren't real." Xander certainly believed what he was saying, since he wasn't giving off any of the physical cues that he was lying, but that didn't mean much. There were people out there, after all, that sincerely believed they'd been abducted by aliens.

"Actually, they so are. I can even introduce you to one who's not out to eat people ... at least not anymore ... if you're willing to take a road trip to Sunnydale once I heal up a bit more." Xander insisted. Part of him was highly amused at the thought of using Angel as a 'show and tell' project. So he was petty and easily amused, sue him! Angel just bugged the shit out of him. Ok, be truthful. Vampires in general pissed him off.

Jim, who'd caught Xander's hesitation earlier, frowned now. "I think that attack hit you harder ... " He started.

"Oh no. Hell no. I am not crazy." Xander said. "Look, vampires are real. Demons are real. They like to munch on people and they tend to be attracted to Sunnydale in droves. That's how I ended up in LA."

Willow nodded fervently. "They really do exist. Xander got jumped by ... hang on, I have a copy of the picture of what attacked Xander in my suitcase." She hurried over to the case and rummaged through it, finally pulling something out with a triumphant noise. "Here it is. Giles had me make a copy to show to Xander to make sure we found the right demon that grabbed him."

She showed the copy of the picture to Xander, who immediately went pale. "Yeah." He said, voice strained. "That's them."

Jim immediately snatched the picture out of Willow's hand, ignoring her outraged "Hey!". Xander's distress at the picture had been very real. He stare down at the picture in something like confusion. Whatever the hell it was, it looked like a cross between a crocodile and a gorilla.

"What the hell is this thing?" He demanded.

"Demon." Xander said, his tone conveying 'duh!' rather clearly. "You get a name for it from Giles, Willow?"

"He said it was something called a Yigint." Willow informed him. "They're sort of demon enforcers, I guess. Muscle-men."

Jim had the picture snatched out of his grasp in turn by Blair, who studied it. While bouncing in place on the couch. "Oh man, this is so ... I mean, there are no words ... how ... I ... shit, I don't even know where to start! Wait, you said you could introduce us to a demon? Who?"

"His name is Angel." Willow supplied. "He's a vampire. Normally vampires are really bad news, but about a hundred years ago, Angel pissed off a bunch of gypsies and they cursed him to have a soul. Ever since then, he's stopped eating people and has been trying to make up for all the bad he did."

Xander made a face. "I really don't like him. He's a broody, sneaky, lying, cowardly son of a bitch, but he has his uses, I suppose."

"Xander!" Willow scolded.

"Willow, he claims to love Buffy like nobody's business, but I had to force him at stake and cross-point to actually, you know, DO something about her being in danger. Giles at least tried, until Buffy conked him over the head. And how long did he lie to her about what he really was? She likes him, so I won't, you know, forcibly try to break them up, even if I think she's completely insane for wanting to get busy with a dead body, but there is no force on this planet that will ever make me like him." Xander glowered and wished he could cross his arms, but that didn't work so well with the splints.

"Wait, Buffy's life was in danger?" Blair asked.

"Yeah. There was a big-time vamp that wanted her dead. Had everybody more than slightly freaked out." Xander said. "Giles was going to try to do something about it, but Buffy was all 'I have to fix this myself' and conked him on the head. When I found out, well ... " Xander shrugged. "I knew I couldn't save her by myself, so I went to Angel. He'd heard about the other vamp wanting to eat Buffy and pretty much locked himself in his room to have a brood-fit about it and mourn her death way prematurely. I kind of had to get in his face to kick his ass into gear."

Jim eyed Xander. There was a lot more to that story than Xander was telling, but what exactly the missing information was, he couldn't even begin to guess. "So how in the name of hell did you even get involved in this shit?" He demanded, giving up on the hope that this was some sort of delusion. Not with Willow backing him up.

Xander's face tightened. "I used to have two best friends." He said quietly. Willow bit her lip and tightened her grip on his hand, looking down to hide the tears that thinking of Jesse brought on. "The other one was named Jesse. Like with Willow, we knew each other from the time we were really little. He got grabbed earlier this year. And vamped. And ... " Xander choked for a minute. "I was the one that staked him. After that ... I just couldn't play blind anymore. Neither could Willow."

"It got personal." Jim said, understanding that sentiment. Keeping the Chopec safe had become rather painfully personal for him after the crash. "Dammit, Xander, you're just kids. This shouldn't be your fight!"

"Who the heck else is going to do it?" Xander wanted to know. "Practically the entirety of Sunnydale pretends there's nothing going on. But our school newspaper has an obituary section, we have almost as many cemeteries as Cascade, and probably as many churches, though I didn't check that."

"You ... checked for demon activity here?" Jim sputtered.

"Yeah. If Sunnydale's anything to go by, the ratio of cemeteries to people is a real good indicator of whether or not things are going to hell ... literally. Cascade seems to be fine." Xander said, then sighed. That was as much as he was comfortable telling them. Neither one was quite ready for apocalypse talk, and Slayers were off the chat menu until he could see if Buffy was ok with it. "So ... seizures?"

Jim grimaced, wanting to know more, but allowed the subject change. "No, not really seizures." He grumbled. "My senses are really enhanced, and before you even ask, I'm human. Sometimes, they get out of control, and I freeze up." Overly simplified explanation, that, but Jim wasn't really in a mood to explain in greater detail.

Blair, though, was. "Jim is what's called a Sentinel. They used to exist a long time ago, when people still lived in tribes all the time, and served as a ... " Abruptly, he cut off, eyes going wide. " ... sentry ... Jim? I think I just figured out what else the Sentinels protected their tribes from, other than wild animals and really nasty weather."

Jim glowered at Blair, but he had to admit, if only to himself, that if demons were real, having a sentry who could spot them before they got close enough to snack on the tribe would probably have been a damn good thing.

On the couch, Willow seemed to be on the same page as Blair, giving Xander a significant look. Hell, for that matter, even Xander was on that page. It made a weird sort of sense. After all, there was only ever one Slayer at a time. No matter how badass she was, there was only so much she could do at any given time. Having an early-warning system in place so tribes could mount an effective defense made a ton of sense. The only question was if the whole Sentinel thing was another 'magicked into existence' thing or nature trying to find a solution to a damn big problem.

"Oh man. You so have got to talk to Giles. He's our go-to-guy when it comes to demons." Xander said, Willow nodding her enthusiastic agreement. "He might be able to confirm whether or not you've got the right of it."

"It would help explain why Sentinels seemed to die out, too." Blair said, thinking out loud. "Clearly, at some point, the overall danger lessened to the point where the sentries weren't needed, so the trait went underground, basically."

"Makes sense to me." Xander offered. "But then, I was never all that good in school."

Willow glowered at him. "Xander Harris, you take that back!"

Xander grinned. "Willow, we both know that the only reason I've made it this far in school is because you help me out."

Willow blushed, but shook her head. "You're not dumb, mister, and I won't have you saying that about yourself! Or have you forgotten that talk we had?" She wanted to know.

Xander grinned, even as he leaned his head briefly on her shoulder by way of a hug. "Thanks, Wills."

"Wait." Jim said. "Giles is your go-to-guy when it comes to demons?"

Xander nodded. "He's studied them for a long time. And fought them. He's got a whole bunch of books about demons of various sorts, written by folks that found out about demons. And in a couple cases, written by the demons themselves."

Blair looked like he wanted nothing more than to track Giles and his library down, bouncing to the point that Jim reached over and clamped a hand on the nearest shoulder, holding Blair down by main force. "Chief, you're starting to make me think there's an earthquake."

Blair gave Jim an abashed grin and tried to settle. "Sorry, big guy."


	9. Arrangements Are Made

Arrangements Are Made

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 16, Colorado Springs

It had been a long, painfully quiet and deadly boring week for Jon O'Neill. He'd ignored his summer homework. God, homework. At his age ... dammit! ... he was really starting to hate being in a sixteen year old body. Oh, who was he kidding? Starting? He'd started the moment he'd realized he was a Goa'uld-be-damned clone. Anyway, he'd ignored that in favor of vegging out in front of the TV with a (technically) illegal beer in hand. At least he was finally catching up on all the Simpsons episodes he'd missed while on missions. Not to mention hockey and football games. So there was a somewhat bright side to the mess. If you could call this a bright side. About the only truly good news that came with being in a younger body was the lack of truly sucky knees. It was nice to not feel like someone was jamming an icepick under his kneecaps. He'd already made due mental note to at least attempt to avoid all the messes that had resulted in his crappy knees the first go-round.

He'd been applying his funk in something close to true teenage fashion, eschewing light by keeping the curtains closed and light (other than the TV) to the minimum absolutely necessary. He'd surprised himself with how easily he was wandering around in the dark in the apartment. He wasn't as familiar with it as he was the house, after all. He sighed as he flopped down on the couch and flipped the television on. He cringed at the sudden blast of noise, hurriedly lowering the volume while snarking about commercials that seemed to think the only way to hawk their wares was to blow your eardrums out. He just hoped there was something halfway decent on. There was only so much soap operas a guy could take.

He never quite realized that it was past ten in the evening and the apartment was pitch-black except for the microwave's display before he turned the TV on ... and when he turned the TV down to a level he could tolerate, it was down to 5.

June 16, Cascade

Xander turned back to Jim and Blair. "So the whole Sentinel thing, somehow Blair can help you with it?" He asked. "'cause I have to say that for a while there, I was thinking you two were, you know ... " He suddenly blushed crimson and started babbling. "Ohshit pretend I didn't say that because I totally don't want to piss you guys off and I really was just thinking you were good buddies, honest!"

Blair actually laughed, though Jim looked somewhat less amused by the insinuation. "Relax, Xander." Blair told him. "Sentinels do have problems ... the freezing up, which is called zoning, and sensory spikes, where one or more senses suddenly jump in sensitivity. So they have a partner that works with them, called a guide."

"And you're it for Jim." Willow said, nodding. Then, she eyed Jim, and Xander, and then looked at Blair. "Blair? I mean, Xander is ... do you think maybe ... ?"

Blair grinned. "It's possible." He admitted. "Unfortunately, there are no records ... at least that I know of ... that indicate whether the senses are hereditary or just random chance. Xander does show a few signs of it being a possibility, though from what I've seen , he doesn't have the senses, yet?" That last came out as more of a question.

Xander shook his head firmly. "Nope, no enhanced senses for me." Well, except while he was possessed, and he so wasn't going into that.

Jim, unfortunately, caught the lie. "Xander? Did we forget to mention the senses make it pretty much impossible for anyone to lie around me?"

Xander got a mulish expression on his face. "It was a one time, one-day thing that totally had no bearing on ... well, pretty much anything normal, and I am so not going to go into it."

Jim and Blair exchanged significant looks, both looking more than a touch amused because Jim had firmly denied his senses for a very, very long time. Even after they'd cropped up this last time, he'd tried to pretend nothing was 'weird' for as long as he could.

"Definitely your kid, Jim." Blair said with a laugh. "Seriously, Xander ... did this jump in your senses happen after you were isolated or exposed to a period of sensory deprivation?"

"Nope." Xander said firmly.

"Nope." Willow echoed half a second behind. She looked like she wanted to say something else, but changed her mind and shut her mouth firmly.

"So if that's your only evidence of me maybe being a Sentinel ... " Xander said, looking half-hopeful.

"Nope. You seem to have a good, solid dose of the protectiveness that comes along with being a Sentinel." Blair said. "And then there's the fact you saw your spirit animal."

Xander went dead pale, and Willow followed right behind, though she didn't get quite as pale. "What are you talking about?" Xander demanded, voice tight and edging into antagonistic.

Jim frowned. "Xander, why are you freaking out so badly? You did the same thing in the hospital. I readily admit seeing a spirit animal is more than a little strange, but you're half a step away from complete panic."

Blair piped up right behind him. "Spirit animals are a part of the Sentinel and Guide thing. We each have one. Jim's is a black jaguar, mine's a gray wolf. They appear in your dreams and sometimes in real life, to warn or guide you."

"This would be on the list of things that will never, ever, ever get discussed as long as I live, period. Ever." Xander said firmly. "And I don't care what the hell a spirit animal is, if mine's a freaking hyena, I so want a refund. They're evil and vicious and stinking rotten scavengers."

Jim and Blair shared a look at Xander's disgusted vehemence. Definitely a story there that they'd have to worm out of Xander. Later.

"Man, you really have it wrong. Hyenas are truly awesome animals." Blair said. "The smaller species might actually be mostly scavengers, but the spotted ... which is the one you have, is a totally different issue. Man, they stand up to lions. And in the spiritual sense, they're pretty impressive. They represent adaptability, patience, perseverance on the hunt, strength, defense of boundaries, and understanding the value of cooperation and community."

Jim blinked at Blair. "How in the hell do you know ... wait, nevermind, this is you we're talking about. How do you remember that?"

Blair just grinned over at Jim, not saying a word. Xander, for his part, did not look all that mollified. So hyenas were cool in the sense of spirit animals. It so did not change his opinion of them after essentially being one (all right, a demonic version of one, but still) and doing what he'd done under the influence. He could get behind most of what a hyena 'meant', if Blair had the right of it, but did it have to be a hyena? He so wanted no part of that!

"Right." Jim said after a moment, looking amused and exasperated at the same time. "It's you. Of course you remember. You scare me sometimes, chief."

Blair's grin widened. "Well, I will admit." He told Xander. "That it's not a given you're a Sentinel, even with Jim being your father. The spirit guide thing does mean you're one of the two, though, at least as far as I know, unless there's Native American blood in you somewhere, since they have a close relationship with spirit animals."

"Nope, not that I know of, but considering I didn't know Jim was my dad until last week, that's not saying a heck of a lot." Xander said. "Man, we so need to get Giles out here. He'll clean his glasses into oblivion."

"Clean his glasses?" Blair asked, confused.

"Yeah, it's this thing he does. Takes his glasses off and cleans them. A lot. Way a lot. I kinda think it's so he doesn't see the shenanigans we get up to, you know? He is kind of a stuffy Brit, but we're trying to cure him of that. Not too much success so far." Xander explained. "I think this one's going to have him scrubbing his lenses until they disappear."

"I could call him?" Willow offered.

"Might be a good idea." Xander admitted. "If for no other reason than to give him time to get stuff together to do the grand show-and-tell."

He smirked again at the mental visual of Angel being forced to play 'see, this is a demon. See the teeth? Avoid them.' He shot Willow a look, and she understood it. Buffy would need to be consulted as well, but given the whole super-hearing thing, that would have to wait until Willow went back to the 'dale, or she could manage to ask Giles in such a way that he understood to ask Buffy without Willow actually mentioning Slayers or special abilities.

"Besides, I think Blair would kill us if we tried to deny him Giles, from the expression he's had on his face." He finished with a grin that was mostly directed at Blair. Blair made no attempt to deny Xander's speculation, since he was fairly close to being completely correct.

"Mind if I use your phone?" Willow asked, grinning at Blair and Jim both.

"Go right ahead." Jim told her.

She bounced over to the phone and dialed. "Giles? Yeah, I made it fine, and Xander looks great. But we kind of need a favor. Mr. Ellison found out about, well, what attacked Xander." A long pause. "Yup. And could you maybe convince Angel to come? As proof? And talk to, well, you know who, and see if they're ok with us telling Mr. Ellison about you know what?"

Over on the couch, Xander snickered quietly and shook his head. Subtle, Willow. Real subtle.

There was a bit of silence, and then Willow nodded. "Ok, Giles. See you in two days then!" And she hung up.

"He bringing Angel?" Xander wanted to know.

"It's going to depend on whether or not Giles can manage to arrange transportation for him." Willow said. "Since he kinda has sunlight issues."

Xander nodded. "Yeah. And we're going to have to figure out somewhere to meet other than here, 'cause I don't think Jim's going to want to ... oh hell, that reminds me!" He turned to Jim and Blair. "Never, ever, ever invite someone in, especially if they show up at night. Just stand aside. Vamps can't come into homes unless they've got an invite."

Blair's eyebrows went up. "They can't come in? How does that work?" He wanted to know.

Xander shrugged. "I dunno. Giles might, though." He told Blair.

"We could just meet up at a hotel." Willow offered. "I mean, Giles will have to stay at one anyway, so we can just go there for the whole talk thing."

Xander nodded agreement. "Yeah, that would probably work best." He agreed. "So, have we hit on everything? Vamps and demons are real, and we can prove it. Sentinels with really enhanced senses are real, and have buddies called guides ... and then the spirit animals thing." He made a face. "Think that hits all the main points, right?"

"Sounds about right, Xander." Blair agreed.

June 16, Sunnydale

Giles regarded the phone for a long moment after hanging up. "Whatever has that boy gotten himself into now?" He wondered ruefully. "He certainly seems to be a magnet for trouble." He sighed and took his glasses off to clean them. "I suppose I must see if Angel will be willing to serve as an exemplar, and then see about transportation." He put his glasses back on. "I do hope Xander manages to stay out of trouble." He doubted it, but he could hope.

He'd become rather fond of the boy over the last year. All of them, actually. The Council would be properly horrified, of course, since Watchers were supposed to remain emotionally detached from their Slayers ... not to mention that it was supposed to be a Watcher and their Slayer, not a Watcher, their Slayer, and a backup team.

He picked up the phone to call Buffy. "Buffy? It's Giles. I've just heard from Willow. She arrived safely and Xander seems to be doing well, but somehow or other the subject of demons came up, and they've asked me to come talk to Mr. Ellison and Mr. Sandburg. I also believe Willow wanted me to ask you about whether you'd be ok with ... " He cut off with a grimace. "I see. Then I shall not bring up the identity of the current Slayer, when that part of the discussion occurs." Honestly, he didn't really mind. Secrecy was a Slayer's greatest weapon, allowing her to operate without officious interference from fools who didn't know what they were dealing with. "I'll be heading up there in the next couple of days, to give them an overview, as I have little doubt that Xander and Willow have only given them the barest of explanations. I don't blame them particularly, as people tend not to believe without some sort of proof. I shall call you from Cascade with an update on Xander. Farewell, Buffy." And he hung up.

Now for the unpleasant part of the problem. Giles grabbed a cross and some holy water (no, he didn't entirely trust Angel, Buffy's attachment to him aside), and, after a check on the sky, and noting he had about a half hour to get to Angel's hideaway, headed out to his car. He was not looking forward to this.

Really, it was ridiculous how complicated things had become since his assignment as Buffy's Watcher. But at the same time, he wouldn't trade any of it for all the money in the world.


	10. Vampires and Sentinels

Vampires and Sentinels

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 17, Cascade

Giles called Jim (well, technically, Xander and Willow, but it was Jim's phone) to let them know he'd succeeded in conn ... er, convincing ... Angel to come to Cascade.

"Do I even want to know what you told him to get him to come, Giles?" Xander wanted to know, trying very hard not to snicker. "Since we both know he'd refuse to come just for show and tell?"

"I may have hinted that the creatures that attacked you headed that way, and that if he wanted to prevent Buffy from going on a three-state rampage, he might wish to go with me to deal with them." Giles admitted. "Given the state of mind she was in when she learned of your disappearance, it was very easy to convince him it was the truth."

"Especially since it probably would be." Xander admitted. Buffy tended to get a wee bit on the grumpy side when he or Willow was threatened. Granted, she had tried to get them to stay on the sidelines a lot too, especially at first, but she finally got the hint that that wasn't going to happen, and had settled for beating the hell out of anything that messed with them.

"Quite. We shall be arriving tomorrow evening, and have already made reservations at a hotel." Giles then rattled off the relevant information.

"Cool. See you tomorrow night then, Giles." Xander said as he copied the information down. Then he handed the phone over to Willow, who said a quick goodbye, and then they hung up.

"Three state rampage?" Jim asked.

Xander grimaced. "Let's just say Buffy really doesn't like it when her friends get messed with and leave it at that, right?" Which, thank god, wasn't a lie. Fortunately, Jim seemed to be willing to let sleeping dogs lie, at least for the moment, and they went on with their day.

June 18, Cascade

The next evening, they all piled into Jim's truck (Xander was doing well enough that as long as they didn't get into a crash, a loose seatbelt wouldn't hurt him) and headed for the hotel Giles and Angel had decided to stay at. Xander grumbled mentally about Angel seeing him in a wheelchair, but the brutal facts were that he just wasn't up for a walk that long, and wouldn't be for a while. Oh well, he had the whole 'Angel as show and tell' thing to cheer him up.

Jim started feeling twitchy and grumpier than normal pretty much the minute they walked into the hotel, but couldn't for the life of him figure out why. The ride up the elevator just saw him getting worse, jaw clenching, shoulders tensing, one hand dangling down by his gun as he glared at the smooth metal doors. It got bad enough that Xander and Willow both were blatantly staring at him. Finally, Blair broke the uneasy silence.

"Jim?" Blair asked quietly.

Jim just shook his head, unable to articulate what was bothering him. Something was just ... off. Wrong. And as they piled out of the elevator on the floor Giles was waiting for them on, the tension and 'wrongness' just kept getting worse.

The hotel room door opened, exposing two men, one shorter and visibly older, the other tall and broad and dark-haired. Which observation was about as far as Jim got before instinct overtook reason. He let out a noise that was remarkably close to a pissed-vamp roar, grabbed Xander's wheelchair and shoved it (and Blair) behind him. Then he lunged straight at Angel, completely forgetting the gun he was packing in favor of an immediate attempt to kill something every instinct he adamantly insisted he didn't have saw as a threat.

Not that Angel was reacting any better. He vamped out and met Jim's attack, and for a minute there, Xander was terrified that Jim was going to get pounded into mush. Thanks be, Giles kept a level head. He pulled a stake from god-knows-where, grabbed Angel by the collar of his coat, and pressed the stake against Angel's back over his chest. Angel froze instantly, allowing Giles to forcibly haul him away from Jim.

That allowed Blair to get to Jim, and Jim grabbed him and hauled him well away from Angel, where the two had a hush-voiced conference. While Xander and Willow traded stunned looks, Blair and Jim had a hushed conference. After about five minutes, Jim managed to calm down.

Angel seemed to have got control of himself as well, and the two men shared wary, distrustful looks.

Giles looked both pissed and pained, finally warily releasing his hold on Angel, though he kept the stake in hand. "Perhaps we should get this over with, before we garner more attention than we want." He advised. "Can the two of you control yourselves in close quarters, or shall we remove ourselves to different environs?"

Jim took a deep breath. "I'm fine." He growled. The fact he'd put himself between Angel and Blair, Xander, and Willow, and was grinding his teeth sort of gave away the lie, but he at least seemed game to do this.

Angel didn't say a word, just scowled blackly and backed further into the room, allowing the rest of them to enter. Willow pushed Xander's chair in.

"Right." Xander said, in a falsely chipper tone. "Introductions. You already know Giles. The tall broody one is Angel, a vampire. Angel, this is Jim Ellison, and this is Blair Sandburg."

The two men were still engaged in a staring and intimidation contest. Xander was hard pressed to decide who was scarier at the moment. Both of them looked like they would be quite happy to commit a murder.

Blair seemed to be recovering from the surprise Jim and Angel's mutual attack had caused. And, consequently, going into geek overload. He was wide-eyed and starting to bounce on the balls of his feet. He took a deep breath, and a highly amused Xander braced himself for the onslaught.

"Why did your face change? How old are you? Who were you before you became a vampire? Who made you one? Do you have to sleep in a coffin? Does garlic bother you? What about holy water? Or crosses? How strong are you? How much blood do you have to drink? Xander and Willow said you don't eat people anymore, so do you raid bloodbanks or what?" Blair fired the questions off with nary a breath between them.

By the time he finally wound down, Xander was grateful he was sitting down, because otherwise he'dve fallen on his ass, he was laughing so hard. So was Willow. Even Giles and Jim looked amused. Angel just looked like someone had smacked him in the head with a mallet.

After a few moments of silence while Angel decided which of Blair's questions to answer and how, he finally spoke. "My face changed because of the demon. It's how vampires feed. I'm over two hundred years old. A vampire named Darla. No. Yes, but it's not lethal, just really painful. Yes, and it *is* lethal, if we get hit in the right spot, or with a lot of it. Yes, but again, it's not lethal, just painful. And I mostly drink pig blood. And before you ask, yes, vampires can live on nonhuman blood ... it's just not as good and doesn't last as long."

Far from having all his questions answered, Blair looked like he was about to launch another salvo when Jim, grinning tolerantly, clapped a hand over Blair's mouth. "Chief, how about we let them get a word in edgewise?"

Blair gave Jim a huffy look but finally nodded agreement, and Giles settled down to give Jim and Blair 'Demonology and Slayers 101'. Having heard it before, Xander mostly tuned out, grinning over at a highly amused Willow. It took the 'adults' about an hour to cover the absolute basics before Giles started asking questions of his own ... about Jim and his reaction to Angel. Which, of course, led to 'Sentinels and Guides 101'.

"I must say that I while I have read Sir Burton's works, I have never heard of the Sentinel mythos being corroborated." Giles said. "Though that could simply stem from having not taken a great interest in the subject at the time it was introduced to me." He'd been far, far more interested in the minutiae of demons and slayers. Sentinels had been of no real interest to him. "Nor have I heard anything about anyone other than a Slayer protecting ancient peoples from demons, but I must say that your supposition seems to be correct, given Angel and Jim's response to one another." Giles eyed both men, who were still giving each other death glares.

It was, Giles was willing to admit, the sort of information the Council would not willingly divulge. He had never been much of a fan of the way Potentials and Slayers were raised and trained. Isolation was not the answer. Granted, a pair of untrained teens as backup wasn't the answer either, but Buffy was faring better thanks to their presence than she would have otherwise. She'd be _dead_ if it wasn't for Xander ... he'd never have gotten there in time, after she knocked him out. The Council's insistence on isolation and a sole focus on duty to the detriment of all else would take quite a hit if Slayers were informed of the existence of people who could and would stand guard over humankind in their stead. Granted, from what Blair had said, a full Sentient had not been seen in well over a century ... at least, not one that civilized man knew about. It was entirely possible that Sentinels were still cropping up among the more remote, primitive tribes in places like Africa and South America. Since such tribes saw very little or nothing of 'white man', there was no way of knowing when or if they'd had a Sentinel among their numbers.

For the sake of badly frayed tempers, it was decided to conduct further information exchanges over the phone, and the meeting was ended before either Angel or Jim gave in to the temptation to attack each other. Jim herded everyone out the door, then, still keeping a wary eye on Angel, followed them out. He didn't relax until he was out of the hotel.

Once back at the loft, Jim collapsed onto the couch and gave Xander a long look. "Blair told me you wanted to go back. Didn't quite believe him. But you do, don't you?"

Xander sighed. "I have to. I can't ... I can't walk away from this. Not now that I know. Not with people I know and care about in the line of fire." He motioned to Willow. "I ... I really do want to get to know you, because trust me, having a decent parent is not something I'm going to turn my nose up at ... but ... "

Jim wanted to argue, badly. But at the same time, if someone told him he'd have to give up watching out for 'his' city? Yeah, he'd be getting a good bit nastier about it than Xander was, so he could understand, even if he really, really didn't like it. He sighed. "If you're going back, you're not going back until you're a hundred percent ... and I'm going to be teaching you a thing or three before you go. Like hell I'm letting you go back there not knowing how to defend yourself." And maybe, just maybe, by the time Xander was back to one hundred percent and being taught self-defense moves, he might just decide to stay in Cascade for a while. Jim could hope.

"Fair enough. I'm nothing but an easy victim at the moment anyway." Xander said.

"And you for damn sure aren't going back to Jessica. We'll find an apartment for you to rent or something." Jim said, leveling a finger at Xander.

Xander was more than a little ok with that idea ... not having to be in the same house as Tony was always of the good, and given recent events, he sincerely doubted his mother would welcome him home with open arms. "Works for me." He agreed.

June 18, Colorado Springs

The first Jon knew of anything being wrong was when he made the mistake of opening his front door to go get his mail. The sudden flood of sunlight after several days of having the curtains closed and no lights on brought him to his knees, eyes clamped closed and one arm thrown across his face to shield his eyes further. It was all he could do to keep from crying out in surprise and pain. Somehow, he managed to scoot back and slam the door, then collapsed against it, waiting for the throbbing agony to ease. It was a good five minutes before he could think straight.

What the hell? Yeah, he'd been in fairly dark surroundings for a couple days, and yeah, walking out into bright sunlight was always going to twinge a bit, but not like that! He rubbed at his temples, attempting to ward off the massive headache he could feel headed his way, then scratched at his arm. He'd gotten bitten by a bug or something yesterday, since his arm'd been itching almost constantly since then.

He put the itch out of his mind and tried to figure out what the hell his deal with light was. That was not normal, not by any stretch. Still, he was hesitant to call his older half. Not only did the problem sound stupid as hell, but the older half would think he was just whining. Jon thumped his head against the door lightly, and now that he wasn't being dazzled, got to his feet in search of some Tylenol. He'd need it for the headache.

June 18, Cascade

That night, Xander dreamed of the hyena again.

_He was jogging tirelessly across the savannah, ignoring the myriad of prey species all around him. Then, without warning, a soft sound reached the hyena's ears, a sound of pain. Furry ears flicked forward, and the hyena altered course and sped up, anticipation beginning to hum through its frame. The waiting was almost over. Soon now ... very soon._


	11. Sentinel, Meet Guide

Sentinel Meet Guide

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. Eleven chapters of waiting, and finally! Also ... I am evil.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 20, Colorado Springs

Jon was beginning to freak out, just a little. Over the last two days, his sight and hearing had repeatedly gone completely insane. Worse, he had some sort of extremely painful rash that had spread from one arm to almost the entirety of his body. Overnight. He couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't concentrate or think. He had a migraine. He was, when he could string two thoughts together, fairly sure he was dying. Again. But the thought of trying to call the older half when his hearing was so messed up and he had the migraine from hell made him cringe.

It didn't help that there was a tiny corner of his mind that was thinking that maybe it'd be better if he did die. It wasn't like he actually had any real place in the world. He was a clone, for god's sake. That corner of his mind was usually either silent or drowned out by the far louder and more adamant parts of Jon's personality, but at the moment, he was so miserable it was louder than usual. Nearly as loud, in fact, as it had been in the wake of Charlie's death.

He swore a blue streak when he looked up ... and saw a wild animal in his apartment.

June 20, Cascade

Xander was ... edgy. To put it politely. If he didn't know better, he'd say his Hellmouth radar was going off, but that wasn't it. Something, however, was definitely going on. He'd been dreaming of the hyena the last two nights, and yesterday, he'd found himself snitching Blair's laptop and going on the 'net. When Blair caught him at it, he'd been checking out maps of Colorado ... and he had no freaking idea why. It was enough to make a guy paranoid. He was beginning to wish that Willow hadn't gone home with Giles and Angel. Not that she'd have a solution to the problem, but having her around would at least have distracted him.

And now, he couldn't seem to sit still to save his soul. Sore, still healing and out of shape be damned, he'd been pacing off and on all day, increasingly uneasy. Blair and Jim had been watching him, Blair with wide-eyed curiosity, Jim with a bit more subtlety. Xander'd caught Blair eyeing Jim more than once, as if wondering if he was picking up on whatever was driving Xander to distraction. Clearly, Jim wasn't, which hadn't helped Xander's assumption that something Hellmouthy was going on, despite being two states away from said hellmouth.

Finally, exasperated with himself, he flung himself onto his futon and glared at the ceiling for a minute or two. About five minutes later, his day was really capped off when the hyena abruptly popped in. Xander gave the thing a death-glare, and fought the urge to find somewhere to hide from it. From everything Blair had told him, that was so not going to work. They hyena stared right back and then whooped at him, the sound oddly urgent, before it turned and ran through a wall. The wall on the east side of the apartment, some part of Xander noticed.

He eyed Jim and Blair. "Ok, did you two see that?" He asked, his tone almost begging. He was still getting used to the whole spirit animal thing in general, nevermind the fact his was a freaking hyena. The gods clearly hated him.

His question was somewhat unnecessary, as both Jim and Blair were eyeing where the hyena had appeared. "Yep." Much to Xander's relief, Jim sounded nearly as disgusted as Xander felt. It helped knowing that someone else wasn't a fan of the whole spirit animal thing, even if Jim had different reasons.

"Something's up." Blair said. "I mean, you haven't been able to sit still for more than about five minutes all day." He eyed Xander for a minute, then glanced over at Jim. "You know ... I don't think you're a Sentinel, Xander." He finally said.

"Oh really? So I'm just blessed with a freaking ghost hyena that follows me around then?" Xander snarked. Not that it was even out of the realm of possibility, given his life over the last year.

"No. I just ... well, at first I assumed you'd be a Sentinel because of Jim, assuming the Sentinel thing was genetic, but either it isn't, or you didn't get it. You're acting a bit like I did, before Jim and I met, actually."

"Chief?" Jim asked, frowning slightly.

"Jim, think about it. Of all the places in the world ... literally, you know how much Naomi and I travelled ... why did I come _here_ for college? Cascade's good, but there's quite a few places better, even just here in the States." Blair pointed out. "I bugged Naomi for over a year to bring me here." He confessed. "It was like I knew I needed to be here, but for the life of me, didn't know why. I left on expeditions a few times, but I always came back, and the months before you and I met? Someone would have had to have knocked me out to get me to leave Cascade. I never saw my wolf, but then again, I was in town with you ... and I pulled some really questionable stunts to meet you."

That made Jim grin, remembering 'Doctor McKay'. At the time, it had pissed him off, but now, it was rather amusing. "So you're saying you think Xander's a guide, then?"

Blair nodded. "And I'll bet you any amount of money that his Sentinel's starting to have the senses kick in, and needs Xander. It'd explain a whole hell of a lot, and not just about the last couple of days."

Xander thought about it, and after a minute or two, decided that Blair maybe had a point. After all, Blair and Jim had told him their spirit animals had led them to Xander. Why? At first, they'd assumed because Xander was, in fact, Jim's son. But what if it had been because there was a Sentinel out there somewhere who was going to need him? Or maybe a bit of both? Besides, Xander rather liked the idea of not having super senses. From what he'd seen of Jim, it sucked royally. "So ... how in hell do we find them?" He wanted to know.

"You were staring at maps of Colorado yesterday." Blair pointed out. "We can start there. I'll bet he's there. It'll just be a matter of somehow further narrowing the search area."

That worked for Xander. Five minutes later, he had Blair's laptop again, and was staring at maps once more. It wasn't until that evening that they finally managed to narrow things down to the general area of Denver, though Xander was sure Denver wasn't their destination. Wherever they were going, it was relatively close to there, though. Xander kept looking to the south of Denver, too, so they figured it was south of there. It was a good start, all things considered. Blair opined that they might be looking at Colorado Springs, as the nearest large city to Denver. It was about seventy miles away, which wasn't all that far ... maybe an hour's drive. At worst, since Xander was so sure they weren't headed for Denver, they could start at Colorado Springs and spread out from there if it proved not to be the place.

Xander was surprised that they were so willing to just go with this. But then again, they'd been dealing with weird stuff for about as long as he had, hadn't they? So it made a certain degree of sense. He was just grateful beyond words that Jim wasn't freaking out. It made a very, very nice change from Tony and Jessica, who either ran him down verbally, beat the crap out of him, or ignored him. Sometimes all three in rapid succession. It was weird as hell having an adult in his life that cared about him.

Figuring out the general area they needed to go seemed to ease a bit of the need to be there. At least enough so that Xander, while still obsessed with it, could sit still and concentrate on other things again. It probably also helped that they spent the evening talking over plans to get to Colorado Springs and start looking. Jim had managed to book them a flight tomorrow evening, even, which helped immensely. That night, he dreamed again. But this time, it was a bit different.

June 20, Colorado Springs.

A leopard. He had a freaking leopard in his apartment. Jon stared at the thing, wishing he had his P-90. Or a zat. Hell, even a staff weapon'd be nice. Leopard. What the hell! It stood there in the middle of his living room and stared at him, unblinking and unmoving for several long moments.

Then things got worse. A honking great hyena came running in. Through a wall. The leopard turned and headbutted the hyena in greeting. The hyena licked the leopard's face, which made the leopard give it a slightly disgusted look. There was so much wrong with this scenario Jon didn't even know where to start. Hell, he was still stuck on the whole 'leopard in my living room' part of the problem. The rest of it was just not really registering. It didn't help that he could barely think. He thumped his head against the nearest hard surface, more than half hoping the additional pain would make him pass out. No such luck of course. Though it apparently was enough to make the leopard and the hyena go away, much to his relief.

And then things got even worse. In between one breath and the next, the apartment dropped away, and ...

_He was suddenly in the African savannah, staring at the leopard again. It was up a tree, and not looking any too good, its coat ragged and shabby looking, it was entirely too thin, and had a pained expression on its face. Which kind of echoed how he felt, to be sure. Before Jon could do more than register the leopard's presence, he heard a distinctive whoop in the distance, and then the leopard lifted its head and gave a grating call._

Xander's Dream

_The hyena was galloping now, a sense of urgency driving it on. Xander raced along behind it, barely paying any attention to their surroundings. He had a feeling the hyena was leading him towards a patch of trees in the distance. It whooped, announcing its imminent arrival. A few moments later, there was a loud, grating, growling chuff from the direction of the trees. And then they were at the trees, and the hyena wove through them briefly before skidding to a stop at the base of one of them._

Both Xander and Jon

_Jon did a triple take when the hyena raced into view, and quickly slid behind another tree, the better to watch without being seen. Behind the hyena was a boy, about fifteen or sixteen by the look of him, with dark, shaggy hair and dark eyes._

_Xander glanced around as he pulled to a stop by the hyena. He didn't see anything right away ... at least, not until it occurred to him to look up. If this had been real, he'dve had a heart attack, because about five or ten feet almost directly over his head, there was a rather ragged, unhappy looking leopard. The hyena at his feet whooped, and reared up against the tree, front paws braced on the bark. After a moment, it dropped back to all fours, and then paced around the tree before repeating its actions. Then it dropped its nose to the ground, snuffling audibly for a few moments before it walked off, nose still to the ground. It stopped at a nearby tree and gave a distinctly gleeful-sounding cackle. Xander snorted in amusement and wandered over._

_"What'd you find?" He asked. He got a rather unexpected answer when a teenage boy about his age warily stepped out from behind the tree. He had light brown/blonde hair, and brown eyes that carried a seriousness most teenagers didn't have._

_"What the hell's going on?" The other kid asked._

_Xander grinned. "I'm not completely sure, but I've got a fair idea. This guy belongs to me. And that leopard, I'm guessing, belongs to you. If Blair's right, you're a Sentinel."_

_"What the hell's a Sentinel?" Jon wanted to know._

_"Somebody who has majorly enhanced senses." Xander said, opting for the briefest, simplest explanation. "And if he." Xander pointed to the leopard. "Is any indication, I'm betting you're in trouble at the moment."_

_Jon grimaced. "Something like that." He wasn't about to admit the kid was right. Not when he had no idea if this was real, or something cooked up by Loki or some particularly demented Goa'uld. "What's your name, anyway?" He wanted to know._

_"Xander. What's yours?"_

_"Jon."_

_"Where are you?"_

_There was no way in hell Jon was going to answer that one. He gave Xander a rather hostile glare. Xander rolled his eyes. "Look, we'll find you. You're in trouble. Help's on the way. Just try to hold on until we get there, all right?"_

Jon

And before Jon could answer, the savannah melted away, and he was back to standing in his living room, probably looking like a complete idiot. What in the name of hell had that been? Unfortunately, before he could even begin to come up with an answer, his hearing spiked again, dropping him to his knees, arms wrapped defensively around his head.

June 21, Cascade

Xander, injuries be damned, almost catapulted out of bed as he woke from the dream. "Shit. Shit." He got to his feet and headed for the door, only to forcibly stop himself. "Double shit. This is bad." Something in him was all but screaming at him to get to Colorado, right now. It was very disconcerting. And alarming. He threw a look at the clock and swore viciously. It was barely four in the morning ... he had about twelve hours to wait before their flight. Even worse, driving there would take twice as long. He was going to go completely insane before they got there, and they still had to actually _find_ Jon, though with any luck the hyena and/or the leopard would lead the way, like the jaguar and wolf had done for Jim and Blair. At least he had a first name, and a face, to put to the person they were trying to find, if the dream hadn't been so much smoke and mirrors.

Thankfully, Blair was very much a morning person, and he came out into the living room around five am, which meant Xander'd only had an hour to drive himself nuts alone. Blair got one good look at his face and gave him a sympathetic look. "Want me to find out if we can get an earlier flight?" He asked.

Xander nodded. "Please. Had another dream last night. Only this time, I saw him. He's got a leopard. Which doesn't look too good. Didn't find out much, but he did tell me his name was Jon."

Blair's eyebrows headed for his hairline, even as he hurried into the kitchen to start breakfast. "Ok, want to give me the long version?" he asked.

So Xander did, and by the time he'd wound down, breakfast was mostly ready and Jim was awake and moving, though not downstairs yet. Once the food was cooked, Blair immediately headed for the phone and his laptop, to see if there were any earlier flights, and if so, whether or not they could exchange tickets. Much to Xander's relief, they could, though there was a tradeoff. There was a ten am flight ... but it landed in Denver, not Colorado Springs. Still, even with the additional drive time, they'd be cutting at least four hours off the original time it would have taken just to get to Colorado Springs, so that was of the good.

Colorado Springs

The minute they landed in Colorado Springs, Xander got treated to a repeat of how Jim and Blair found him, only this time it was the hyena and the leopard leading the way.

"This is so freaky." Xander groused. "I mean, seriously. We're following ghost animals. Anyone ever finds out about this, we're going to be due for a long, long stay in a padded room."

That made Blair snicker, though he did agree ... this sort of thing would definitely raise eyebrows. Jim just shot Xander a commiserating look through their rental's rearview mirror. Finally, the hyena and leopard stopped in front of an old two-story house that had been subdivided into apartments. The leopard dashed up the wooden stairs on the side of the house that led up to what had once been the attic, and the three men followed. Xander knocked on the door when they reached it ... but there was no response.

"Maybe he's not home?" Xander asked, then frowned. "Or we've got the wrong place. Or this is some sort of cosmic hoax." Those last two options had the hyena, sitting at his feet, giving him a dirty look.

At that point, the leopard (who had disappeared into the house) stuck its head back through the door and gave a distinctly alarmed-sounding cry, before pulling back into the apartment.

"Somehow, I don't think that's the case." Jim said, eyeing the door. They could always break in, but that was going to be fun to explain later, either if the guy really wasn't home or if they had to call the emergency squad. Then again ... Jim knew just how bad things could get, when the senses went out of control. Hell, more than once, he'd have ended up dead if it wasn't for Blair, simply because he zoned at a really, really, really bad time. If there was such a thing as a good time to zone, that is.

"Head back down the stairs a bit. I'm going to get the door open." Jim told them. Whatever else, he wasn't about to leave a fellow Sentinel locked up somewhere in dire straits. They'd figure out how to explain things later, if it came to that.

Xander and Blair both backed off down the steps a bit, and Jim tested the door. Fortunately, it didn't seem to be especially sturdy, and he was a big guy. Better still, it didn't look like the deadbolt was engaged, just the knob lock. A couple good hits with his shoulder and the lock gave, allowing the door to swing inwards.

It was instantly clear that, whatever else may be going on, this was definitely the home of a Sentinel in distress. The window shades were all down, and several of the windows had blankets dangling over the curtain rods, a haphazard attempt at further blocking any light coming through. There was a bucket that bore remnants of bleach and water from a recent attempt at scrubbing out the scents in the apartment, and Jim winced. That attempt had probably just made things worse ... bleach _reeked_, even to normal senses. Clothes were scattered everywhere, a sign the Sentinel's sense of touch was in as bad of shape as his sight and smell. Jim'd gone through everything he owned trying to find something he could tolerate against his skin once or twice when his senses had re-awoken just before he met Blair.

To Xander, the place mostly looked like a regular bachelor's apartment. Clothes scattered everywhere, blankets on the window ... none of it had the same connotations for him as it did for Jim. He glanced around, and, not seeing anyone, headed for one of the doors off the living room. It turned out to be the kitchen, nearly as messy as the living room, but as devoid of unknown people as the living room had been. Xander immediately headed for the next door. Bathroom. The third door proved to be the bedroom.

Xander didn't immediately see anyone in the room, and might have left, despite the near-compulsion to find Jon, if it hadn't been for the leopard sitting at the foot of the bed, looking worried. Xander decided to check the far side of the bed ... and found a kid that looked a lot like what the 'Jon' guy in his dream had looked like. And he was seeing a lot more of the other teen than he'd ever expected to.

He was curled up in a tight ball, arms over his head, wearing nothing but a pair of silk boxers and he looked like complete shit. There was some sort of painful-looking rash scattered all over his arms and back and legs. He was also completely unresponsive. Xander swore softly and dropped to his knees, throwing one arm around the other teen and mentally blessing Blair. Blair, once it'd been clear that Xander was probably a Guide, had given Xander 'Guide 101', which basically was a primer on the basics of how to work with and help a Sentinel.

The lessons were coming in handy right about now. With no way of knowing what Jon had zoned on ... or if that was even the problem ... he could have spiked, which was a different problem, or just have retreated into unconsciousness to get away from his out of control senses, Xander just tried to monopolize as many of Jon's senses as he could. He started babbling a mile a minute about anything that came into his head, and deliberately laid his hand gently over Jon's nose and mouth, hoping that it would either muffle the scents Jon was already having to deal with, or at the least it would provide something new that he'd want to figure out and thus be pulled towards consciousness. Sight he couldn't manage at the moment, as Jon had his eyes clamped closed. Still, three of the five wasn't bad.

Jon's POV

In retrospect ... the bleach had been a very, very bad idea. Not that Jon was actually capable of thinking that one through at the moment. After the dream, completely weirded out, he'd spent a few hours stalking through his apartment, getting thoroughly frustrated by whatever was going on. He'd decided the place needed some cleaning to get rid of the stench ... and that had been, pretty much, the beginning of the end. His senses, as uncomfortable as they were before that, had gone completely off the scale in the space of about five minutes. He'd ended up tearing his clothes off to get away from at least some small shred of the agonizing pain. A pair of silk boxers he'd gotten himself mostly as a private, and very bitter joke (like anyone was ever going to see them? Hah.) proved to be the only things he could even begin to tolerate wearing.

Then some idiot had driven by and laid on the horn. That had been the last thing that Jon was aware of. Until now. It was the scent that reached him first, close and strong and smelling of ... well, things Jon didn't yet know how to identify. Whatever the combination was, it was ... oddly soothing. Reassuring. If he'd been at all coherent, he'dve balked at that thought, but at the moment his higher brain functions were distinctly absent. He liked that smell. He wanted to know where it was coming from.

And as Jon slowly began to pull out of the zone, his other senses reported in. There was something draped across his back, and warmth and pressure all along one side of his body. Something was draped over his nose, too, and as Jon began to come back to consciousness, he instinctively tried to shake it off, old demons rearing their heads briefly, but unable to completely take over with him in the shape he was in. Still, it was enough to pull him further awake, wanting and needing to know who'd captured him this time, and where he was at. It was at that point that two more things registered ... a steady, swift-paced thump-thump very close to his right ear, and, laid over that, a voice, talking fast but in a quiet, reassuring tone. Jon managed to peel his eyes open a slit, tensing and groaning against the sudden return of his vision combined with the fact that the pain was beginning to make itself known again, though it was, to his delight and surprise, somewhat muted from earlier. Maybe he hadn't been captured after all. Might just be the older half and crew, though he didn't recognize the voice. A nurse, then, maybe? If the older half'd found him curled in a ball on the floor, the first stop would have been the SG infirmary.

And now that he was actually thinking things through again, the words pouring out of the person next to him began to make sense. Mostly, it was various exhortations to 'come back' and/or let the other person know he wasn't unconscious anymore. He settled for a low groan, which had the effect of instantly changing the patter of talk.

General POV

Xander wasn't sure how long he knelt there, one arm over the other teen and saying pretty much anything that came into his head before he felt the other guy take a sudden, deep breath. Xander had to fight down the urge to whoop in relief, and immediately shifted to encouraging the guy to wake up. A few moments later, the guy shook his head, like he was trying to dislodge Xander's hand. It took another minute or two, but then the guy groaned. Xander grinned widely. Yeah, he was in pain, but he was also, thanks be, not zoning anymore. At least, Xander didn't think so.

"Hey there. I know this has to suck, big time, but don't worry. We'll get it figured." Xander grinned. "At least I know what the heck's going on, and better yet, we've got backup." That brought the other guy's head up, and he blinked owlishly at Xander. "My name's Xander. We met last night. Well, sort of. Weird dream about a hyena and a leopard? Ring any bells?"

Jon grimaced. "Yeah." His voice was little more than a whisper. "M'Jon."

"Nice to finally meet you in person, Jon. Now let's see if we can't do something to get your senses under control. Once you're not reeling and in agony, I'll make with the 'splainy. I want you to think of an instrument panel you're really, really familiar with ... something you can picture in your head without having to think about it that has at least five dials."

That was easy enough. The first thing that jumped into Jon's mind was the instrument panel for his favorite jet, back when he'd still been a pilot. "Got one."

"Now, mark six of the dials. One for sight, one for sound, one for smell, one for touch, one for taste, and one for pain." Blair had taught Jim to use just five dials, but Xander was going to go with six ... after all, no matter what sense was going wonky, it was damn hard to think when your pain level was through the roof, and reducing that first would make it easier to wrestle the senses back under control.

"Now imagine where your senses are on those dials. Right about now, I'm betting they're way, way into the red zone." That got Xander a nod. "Now comes the tricky part. I want you to grab the dial for pain, and force it back down. You need to really picture it, believe it's happening."

Jon scowled, but went along with it. If it worked and got him out of this hell, he'd be willing to french-kiss Anise/Freya, nevermind pretending to mentally play with instrument controls. It took him a few minutes, with Xander giving quiet encouragement the whole time, but finally, he managed to get a 'handle' on the dial, and, wonder of wonders, the pain began to receed. He let out a long, relieved sigh and sagged, ending up leaning on Xander a good bit.

"Hah. That got it, evidently. Feeling better?" Xander asked.

"Yeah. Now what?"

"Now do the same for the other five, one by one."

It took Jon the better part of half an hour to get the dials back to something like normal, but he managed it. He had the feeling that they weren't going to stay where he put them, though ... at least, not for long. He could all but feel his senses trying to slip their new leashes. Still, it was a huge relief to have his senses back within normal parameters. Of course, at that point, he very belatedly realized he was essentially naked, and clinging to another teenaged boy. He squawked and lunged away from Xander, snatching up the first piece of clothing that came to hand and scrambling into it, cursing inventively all the while. Xander manfully refrained from laughing at him, though his expression was highly amused.

"When you're done getting dressed, c'mon out into the living room. My dad and his friend are out there. We'll explain what the heck's going on."

June 21, Cheyenne Mountain.

No one had heard from or seen the Mini-Me since the start of summer. This news irritated the hell out of Jack for a number of reasons, the least of which being that it dealt with the mini-me. All the weird shit that had happened to SG-1 over the years, and he was still trying to get his head around having a teenaged clone of himself running around. The only thing screwier than this had been Daniel's ascension and return.

That mini-me had been out of contact for weeks, but it had only been noticed in the last few days had him wanting to kick some ass. Inattention like that got people killed. Worse, it'd taken them this long to decide that he needed to be notified. He growled. By now, there'd be little to no trace of what happened to mini-me. Still, he had to try.

He stomped into Daniel's office. "Yo, Daniel. Gear up. Mini-me's gone missing." Jack told him. "You know where Teal'c's at?" While Jack knew the Jaffa was on base somewhere, it could be any of a number of places. Daniel and Sam were far easier to find. Check their offices, and in Sam's case, her lab. There was a better than ninety percent chance he'd find them there.

"I think he went down to the gym to spar. Want me to go get him?" Daniel offered, immediately beginning to put what he'd been working on away. After so many years, he'd become attuned to Jack's moods, and Jack was not a happy camper at the moment. The quicker they got on the move, the better.

"Yeah. I'll get Sam. Meetcha on the surface in twenty." Jack said, then turned and headed off for Sam's territory.

Half an hour later, they were in Jack's truck and headed for the apartment the Air Force subsidized for the mini-me, all four of them armed, though not as heavily as Jack would have liked, and neither he nor Sam were in uniform, so as not to alarm the locals with the sight of two soldiers with guns running around the streets.

When they got there, there was a strange SUV in front of the house, but Jack initially didn't pay it any mind ... after all, the mini was old enough to get a license, and definitely knew how to drive. Then it registered that it was awfully new for a teenager's pocketbook, even Air Force funded, and he glared at it for a minute, before heading for the stairs. Partway up, he realized the apartment's front door was a little ajar, and showing signs of having been forced. Shit. He pulled his gun and signaled the others to do likewise, and then slipped up the stairs as quietly as he could. A few more steps, and he heard voices. He cursed mentally, and then signaled the others again.

He and Teal'c hit the door first, slamming it back against the wall with a bang, guns already starting to track for targets.


	12. SG1, Sentinels and Guides, Uh Oh!

SG 1 Sentinels and Guides Uh Oh

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. Sentinel fans will notice that Jim is not reacting negatively to Jon. The Sentinel Jim encountered in canon was insane and a thief. Normal Sentinels can and do coexist quite peacefully.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 21, Colorado Springs

Jon, completely mortified, had made fast work of getting dressed, and warily walked out into his small living room. He instantly identified the larger of the two adults in the room as a fellow soldier ... the stance and look was unmistakable. The shorter guy made him snort in amusement, because he reminded Jon of Daniel, just with longer, curlier hair.

Eyeballing the two men, he wandered over towards Xander, not quite realizing he was instinctively putting himself between Xander and potential danger. Whether that was the soldier in him talking or the Sentinel was anyone's guess. Jim snorted in amusement as he watched Jon maneuver, but also felt bad for the kid. He looked like shit, pale, with heavy bags under his eyes, and he was looking a bit on the thin side. And that was ignoring the rash that Jim could see bits of.

"Relax, kid. We're not here to hurt you. We're here to help. My name's Jim Ellison, and this is Blair Sandburg. I know you've got a lot of questions."

"Hell yes. Let's start with how the hell you found me." Jon said, trying hard not to be antagonistic and not quite managing it.

Jim grimaced. "That's gonna take some explaining." That the kid probably wouldn't believe. "Short version is, we got led here. Long version's part of the explanation about why your senses have suddenly gone completely nuts."

"Yeah, and you know that how?" Jon demanded.

"Part of the long explanation." Xander said. "I know it sounds a bit crazy, and it looks very ... worrying ... but we're really not here to hurt you, I promise."

Something made Jon want to believe that, but his soldier's brain had kicked into high gear now that he could actually think at all. And despite the fact he liked to pretend he had an IQ of about eighty, Jon ... errr, Jack ... hadn't gotten as far as he had rank-wise on the strength of his good looks. He hadn't survived ... how many System Lords had it been? ... and any number of unpleasant circumstances offworld by luck alone either.

Blair started talking, beginning to explain Sentinels and Guides. Unfortunately, he didn't get a chance to get very far before Jim stiffened beside him.

It was Teal'c that gave SG-1 away. Jim was so used to picking up on and ignoring passing motorists that their arrival would have gone unremarked if it had been four humans. Unfortunately, while Jaffa look human on the surface, their internal structure (thanks to the pouches) was very different, and Jim picked up on that the moment Jack's truck stopped out front. SG-1 was just lucky Teal'c no longer had Junior. Jim probably would have picked up on _that_ when they were still two or three miles away.

"We've got company, chief." Jim warned. A couple of sniffs, and he frowned. "They're armed. And one of them ... " He shook his head. "Not sure what the deal is, but it doesn't sound right."

Jon had a suspicion he knew who it was. "How many are there?"

"Four." Jim answered immediately.

Jon grimaced, having won the bet with himself. Jim had moved around so that he was between everyone else and the door, his hand going to the gun he always carried as he eyed the front door warily. "Better get ... " He started to warn.

At which point the door slammed open. Jon flinched back like he'd been shot, hands flying up to his ears. Xander and Blair, after one glance at the people in the door, instantly got between Jon and the intruders. Xander half-instinctively put a hand on Jon's arm, muttering quietly about dials while giving Jack and Teal'c positively lethal glares. Fortunately, Jon wasn't completely incapacitated by the sudden racket, just in pain from it, and after a minute or two managed to wrestle things back under control.

"Put the guns down." Jim snarled, his own gun pointing steadily at Teal'c chest, finger kissing the trigger. Fully three-quarters of his attention was on Teal'c, the rest split between Jack, Sam, and Daniel. Jim had no idea what the deal was with Teal'c, and until he did (and maybe even after that) he was considering the big black man the primary threat of the group. "Right now."

Well shit, Jack thought. He instantly recognized Jim as a fellow soldier, which had his alarms going. Trust? NID? "Who the hell are you? What are you doing here?" Jack demanded, his own gun trained on Jim.

Jim was having none of that. "Gun. Down. And you'll be the ones answering questions, seeing as you came in here waving guns around." He snapped. "Starting with what the _fuck_ he is." There was no mistaking who Jim meant, since his attention hadn't wavered from Teal'c the entire time.

"I don't think so." Jack snapped. "I want to know why Jon's door was busted in, and who the hell you are, and ... "

"Jack, shut the hell up and put the damn gun down." Jon snapped, having finally gotten the pain from the slammed door under control again. "They're not threatening me." It was just as well he'd recovered somewhat, as otherwise, the standoff might have continued indefinitely, as neither Jack nor Jim was in any way inclined to back down.

Jack gave his clone a death-glare, but considering it _was_ his clone, decided to trust Jon's judgment and slowly lowered his gun. Unfortunately for him, Jim was not overly inclined to reciprocate, not with Teal'c in the room.

"Jim, he's not a danger." Jon said, having a damn good idea of why Jim was so fixated on Teal'c.

"You know them?" Jim asked.

"Yeah, they're all friends of mine." Jon confirmed.

Jim gave Teal'c one last death-glare before reluctantly taking his finger off the trigger and dropping his arm. "Fine. Who the hell are they?"

Once the guns went down, Blair stepped up so that he was just behind and to Jim's right, his arm brushing Jim's lightly, hoping having him so close would help defuse Jim's ire. "Easy, big guy." He murmured, at a level only Jim and Jon would be able to hear. "Just take it easy."

"Hey, we're right here." Jack groused. "Try asking us."

Jim just gave him a dirty look, while, from his protected spot behind Jim, Blair and Xander, Jon rolled his eyes.

"Ignore Jack." Daniel said, sliding towards the front of the group now that the guns had all been put away, assuming his usual role of 'first contact with the natives' almost without even thinking about it. "He's Jack O'Neill, this is Samantha Carter, and this is Murray." Daniel indicated each person in turn. "And my name's Daniel Jackson." He offered his hand to shake, despite a noise of protest from Jack.

Jim eyed the four of them, catching the lie as to Teal'c's name, but after a few moments shook Daniel's hand.

Blair, in the meantime, gave Daniel a commiserating grin, as Daniel was clearly used to Jack being cranky and making things difficult, just as he was used to Jim doing much the same. "This is Jim, That's Xander, and I'm Blair." He indicated who was who.

Jim was being very stubborn. He wasn't letting any of SG-1 approach the three men behind him, and spared a moment of thanks that Blair hadn't given last names in his introduction. "So ... what the hell is he?" He jerked his head towards Teal'c.

"And what are you doing here?" Jack demanded in return, having absolutely no intention of answering Jim's question, though he dearly wanted to know how Jim seemed to know Teal'c wasn't human.

And they were back to a standoff, with neither side willing to give the information the other side was asking for, giving each other distrustful looks. Jon was rolling his eyes in exasperated amusement, but he wasn't sure what to do to break the stalemate. Jack was not going to start blabbing about the SGC, or explaining the truth of who and what Jon was, or Teal'c, not in a million years. And Jim didn't look like he was going to say word one about anything until he found out what he wanted to know about SG-1. Yeesh.

At that point, Daniel seemed to get a good look at Jon, and realized that Jon looked like crap. His eyebrows headed for his hairline as his expression became concerned. "Jon? What happened?" He wanted to know.

"Hell if I know. My senses started going all over the place. This lot seemed to know what was going on, but you busted in before they could say much of anything." Jon groused.

Jack eyed Jim, Xander, and Blair. "So ... explain." He demanded.

Which just made Jim give him a dirty look. "It's nothing _you_ need to hear, since it has nothing to do with you." Like hell Jim was going to tell anyone in the military about Sentinels in general, nevermind reveal that he was one!

Blair rolled his eyes. "Jim, chill." He said, a bit louder this time.

"Look, either someone starts talking, or I start making with the arrests." Jack snapped.

"Try it and find out what happens." Jim snarled in return, bracing himself.

"Oh for the love of little baby monkeys, will you two stow the testosterone please?" Xander huffed, shaking his head. Daniel and Blair both snickered at the looks on Jim and Jack's faces. "Jon needed help, and we came to give it to him, all right? Do the hows and whys really matter, or were you wanting him to end up dead?"

"Whoah, whoah, dead?" Jack sputtered.

"Yeah, dead. As in not alive anymore." Xander repeated.

That had Jack eyeing Jon, wondering if the clones' admittedly screwed up DNA and body had gone on the blink a second time. There was no telling what Loki had done to mini-me after all. "What the hell happened?" He wanted to know.

Before Jim could start with the 'I'll tell you if you tell me what I want to know' thing again, Blair started going into a modified version of his Sentinel spiel. "Long story short, back when humans were still running around in tribes, there were people born who had all five senses really enhanced, who eventually became known as Sentinels. They were their tribes' watchmen, an early warning system against dangerous weather and beasties. When we started 'modernizing', they started dying out because they weren't really needed anymore, but they still exist, and crop up now and again. Jon's one of them."

To say Jack was skeptical was to understate the case, though it had nothing to do with not believing Sentinels existed, and more to do with the fact that Jon was, essentially, Jack, and, well ... if one was a Sentinel, why weren't both? Not that he was going to say anything about it. "Uh huh. And you know this how?"

"I've been studying the Sentinel phenomenon since I was a teenager." Blair said. "I managed to track down a lot of people with one or two senses enhanced ... you know, perfume sniffers and food tasters? People like that. Jon's got all five. And if you need any further proof ... " He waved a hand at Jon, indicating the sorry shape he was in. "You really don't need to look any further. Enhanced senses may come in handy for a lot of things, but they also have downsides, and bad reactions to things is one of them. Hence the rash. I'm guessing either the material in his clothes or what he uses to wash them caused that." Blair shot Jim a look, who shot Blair a look back. "He's also not the only Sentinel I've worked with, though the other one's an adult."

Jack, not being anywhere near as stupid as he liked to pretend he was, realized pretty fast that Jim was, apparently, the other Sentinel, but that Blair and Jim weren't willing to admit to it in front of SG-1. Given the circumstances, Jack didn't blame them a bit. "Fair enough." He still didn't believe Jon was a Sentinel, but he couldn't exactly tell them that without explaining why, which was a definite no-go.

"So, what the hell is he?" Jim wanted to know, still not willing to give up on that. He hadn't stopped eyeing Teal'c the entire time they'd been there.

"Classified." Jack snapped off. George was going to have kittens about this.

"Yeah, I had a feeling you were going to say that." Jim snarked, then sighed. "Look, Jon needs help, and we know what to do. You guys going to cause problems if we take him with us?"

Jack eyed Jim warily, wanting to say no. He shot a look at Jon, who gave a faint nod, trusting in the fact that they were essentially the same person for Jack to understand what the nod meant. Jack eyed Jim again, then gave another sigh. "He stays in contact." Jack demanded. "And you tell us where the hell you're going. He falls off the radar, and I come hunting. And believe me when I say you really, really, really don't want to piss me off. And you give us full names."

Jim snorted. "You'll find me under Captain James Ellison, Army Rangers." He rattled off his service number, knowing exactly what Jack planned to do with the full names. "Blair Sandburg, and Alexander Harris. We're heading for Cascade, Washington. I'm a cop there, Major Crimes unit, under Simon Banks." Translation, we have nothing to hide. Well, except for Jim being a Sentinel, but that wasn't going to be in any of the records.

Jack's eyebrows headed for his hairline when Jim gave his name and rank. "I've heard of you." He said. The whole Peru mess had pretty much been the talk of the military there for a while, given everything that had happened. Some part of Jack relaxed. If Jim lived up to even a tenth of the hype surrounding him, Jon was in good hands, regardless of the reason why his senses were going nuts. It also explained why Jim was being so antagonistic. After what Jim had lived through, Jack would have been more than a little leery of anyone military too. Having your entire team wiped out because your superior was on the take, then surviving a year and a half in the jungle before you got rescued would make anyone twitchy.

Jim made a disgusted face. "I'm sure you have." He practically growled.

There was several moments' awkward silence before Jack finally rolled his eyes and motioned the rest of SG-1 to leave. "Remember, he stays in contact."

"We know, we know." Jim snarked. Jack finally turned and left.

Once the door closed, Blair turned to Xander. "Well, that could have gone better ... but it also could have gone a lot worse."

"No kidding. I was half expecting Jack and Jim to just start kicking each others' asses." Xander said. "And what did you mean, by 'what is he'?"

"If 'Murray' is human, I'll eat my shorts." Jim said. "That's what I meant." He shot Jon a look.

Jon immediately shook his head. "Yeah I know them, yeah, I know what the deal is, and no, I can't tell you. It's _very_ classified."

Jim grimaced in distaste, but didn't push it, knowing all too well that doing so was a very bad idea. People who blabbed classified material tended to end up severely regretting it, as did the people they blabbed to. "All right, I get it. Why don't you three start packing up?"

Xander nodded, and gently tugged Jon towards the bedroom again.

"Been meaning to ask, but what the hell happened to you?" Jon wanted to know, indicating Xander's splints.

"I got mugged." Xander lied, hoping Jon's senses were new and out of whack enough to keep him from realizing that he was lying, at least until they got to Cascade and could explain the whole demon thing.

"Ouch."


	13. Tangled Webs

Tangled Webs

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. Further AU notice ... Janet Frasier is alive and well and will remain so. Because I like her and she is badass. Just assume that damn staff blast missed her. *nods*

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 21, Colorado Springs

Jack was surprised that Sam managed to keep her mouth shut until they got into the truck.

"Colonel ... " She started, looking severely irritated.

"Sam, staying would have pushed things into a rather ugly confrontation." Jack pointed out. "I don't know if you noticed, but Jim and Blair were both gearing up to kick our asses. Now, Blair might not look like much, but I think we've all learned not to assume anything? And yeah, we have Teal'c, but ... " Jim had been a Ranger, and even years retired, that made him someone Jack didn't want to tangle with if it could be avoided. He didn't doubt their ability to defeat Jim and company, but why go there if they didn't have to? "Besides, we're not exactly going to be letting them walk away." He gave Sam a smirk. "You got your laptop with you?" He wanted to know.

Like she went anywhere without the damn thing. "Of course." She grabbed it, understanding where Jack had been going with that question. Then she frowned. While powerful and heavily encrypted, her laptop didn't have anywhere near the power or speed of the base computers. "You're calling the General, right?" Considering she'd caught him halfway through dialing the base, Jack just grinned at her. "Call me a cab so I can head back to base. My laptop's good, but the base computers are better. I'll call you when I've got what we need."

"Leave me your laptop, would you, Sam? I want to look some stuff up." Daniel asked. Sentinels weren't his area of interest, though he'd encountered mentions of people with enhanced senses (though never called Sentinels as such) in tribal lore more than once. Confirming Blair's claims would help establish their bona fides, and if Blair had been as interested in the phenomenon as he said he was, there might be a paper trail he could follow from the academic angle while Sam tracked down other information.

"Sure." Sam handed over her laptop.

Jack, meanwhile, was having a quiet conversation with Hammond, who was understandably displeased with the situation. "Tell Janet, and see if you can get Thor on the horn. Whatever else is going on, there's something definitely wrong with Jon." He told Hammond. "Which is why I backed off rather than force a confrontation. If they move, we'll follow, but I doubt they're going to actually move. Ellison's military, so he's got to know."

Hammond sighed. "I'll trust your judgment, Jack, but get this dealt with fast. There's only so long I can stall before I have to inform certain parties, and you know that'll bring in more trouble." Like the NID. "I want hourly updates." Though Hammond didn't actually say it, the 'miss a call and I send in the cavalry' was rather blatantly obvious. "I'll have one of the larger teams on standby, just in case they do move."

Jack agreed, then hung up and called Sam a cab. It arrived a few minutes later, and she left for the mountain. Now all they had to do was sit back and watch.

Jon's Apartment

Of course, Jim having been military, he was well aware that Jack was unlikely as hell to just traipse off on Jim's say-so. He didn't need Sentinel hearing to figure that one out, though he did eavesdrop shamelessly so he knew exactly what they'd be dealing with ... if Jack was going to call in the cavalry and storm the place, Jim wanted to know. Fortunately, Jack seemed to be content with a 'wait and watch' approach.

"Ok, they're just hanging out, waiting to see what we're up to." Jim told the others.

Jon gave an amused snort. He could have told Jim that, but it would lead to awkward questions as to how he could be so certain of Jack's actions and responses, so he didn't say anything about it, just came back out of his room with a small duffel bag (in case they really did leave at some point). "So ... you guys were explaining about Sentinels before they busted in here?"

"Right." Blair said, quickly getting settled on the couch. He started to explain the whole thing ... well, what he knew of it anyway. Despite better than a decade of personal research on the subject, Blair hadn't been able to find much about Sentinels, as most of the ancient tribes that had been host to a Sentinel didn't have a written history, and verbal tales got ... enhanced ... over time, so everything in a verbally-handed-down story had to be taken with about a pound of salt. The only things that Blair had been able to corroborate was that Sentinels seemed to always come into their gifts before physical adulthood, the majority of them before they hit their teens. They all also needed a Guide in order to function successfully. Sentinels and Guides also had spirit animals. Everything beyond that was wild supposition and/or guesswork ... only a small fraction of which had either been confirmed or denied in the last year with Jim.

Jon perked up at the mention of spirit animals ... less because he was thrilled they existed and more because it was a relief to think that him seeing a honking great leopard hadn't been him going flying over the deep edge. "Spirit animal? Wouldn't happen to be a leopard now, would it?" He asked.

"They're different for everyone." Blair explained. "Mine's a wolf, Jim's is a black jaguar, and Xander's is a spotted hyena." Xander couldn't restrain an annoyed grimace. It would be a long, long time before he was anywhere near comfortable with his spirit animal. "And they show up in dreams, and sometimes when you're awake ... generally when something big and/or dangerous is going down." Blair continued. "So if you see yours around, pay attention. If Jim and I had ignored ours a while back, Xander'd be dead now."

That was pretty much the only thing Jon needed to hear to take the whole spirit animal thing seriously. He might think it was a bit crazy ... ok, more than a bit ... but after seven years plus of crazy, he could deal, and despite his older half's habitual whinging and blatant pretending otherwise, he knew better than to write off or ignore things that seemed insane and/or impossible. "So I'm gonna need to hang out with Xander for ... what, the rest of my life, then?"

Xander was surprised that Jon didn't sound pissed-off and/or bitter about essentially being hog-tied to someone he didn't know in order to stay sane. Jim was as well. "You're taking this better than I did when Blair explained it to me." Jim told him.

Jon shrugged. He couldn't exactly explain why he was ok with it without shattering confidentiality into billions of irreparable pieces. "My life is defined by weird." He told them instead. "This is barely a blip on my radar."

Jim was smart enough not to ask why. Whatever the hell was the deal with Jack and 'Murray' and company, Jon was in on it. At some point, there'd have to be some explaining, on both sides, but not yet.

Cheyenne Mountain

Sam, after some six hours of nonstop work, finally sat back away from her computer, contemplating the information she'd put together for a moment before she called Jack.

"Colonel? I've got the information you wanted." She said into the phone when Jack answered. "Ellison's the real deal. Solid and incorruptible as they come, if his record's any indication. Blair's is more eclectic. He's been on every continent save Antarctica, mostly with his mother when he was a kid. Smart enough to give Daniel and I a run for our money ... he was in college at sixteen." She continued with a more detailed run-down of both men's lives up to now.

"And the kid?" Jack wanted to know.

"More or less a massive blank. There's almost nothing in the system about his hometown, except that it exists, and its census numbers. The latter of which I had to dig pretty damn far to find. Birth certificate for the kid under Alexander Harris, and school reports up to last year. Fairly bright ... not Blair's level, but better than average in most areas, if only just, going by his grades and the classes he's in. Only other thing we've got is a file on him with the LAPD. Poor kid was evidently kidnapped and roughed up ... explains the splints and remnants of bruising. Hospital records corroborate that ... whatever the hell happened, it was ugly. Kid got torn up pretty bad. Here's where it gets weird, though. Ellison and Sandburg are the ones that found him. They were on a layover between flights, heading back to Cascade from Peru ... I'm still digging to find out why ... and evidently decided to take a drive while they waited."

Jack frowned, though Sam couldn't see it. That was odd, and very serendipitous timing. Not even his strong suspicion that Jim was a Sentinel explained that. Could it have been a setup of some sort? Jack shook that thought away almost immediately, remembering Jim putting himself between Xander and SG-1. No ... whatever was going on there, Jim hadn't set the kid up for something. "Thanks Sam ... lemme know if you dig anything else up."

"Will do, Colonel." Sam said, then hung up. She eyed the screen again. What she'd found out had her thinking that things were actually ok. Jim was ... well, a lot like Jack, actually. Both were sarcastic, bullheaded Alpha males, for one. And both took duty deadly seriously, any verbal snarkery aside. The number of people who would have even tried to complete their given mission under the circumstances Jim had found himself in was incredibly small ... that he succeeded, and held the area against drug runners for a year and a half with nothing but native tribesmen and their weapons for assistance was right up there with some of the feats that SG-1 had pulled off in her mind.

Half an hour later, the final bits of information had finally come through, and Sam was staring at the computer in disbelieving confusion. Jim was Xander's father? From the hospital and LAPD reports, this had only come to light after the kid had been in the hospital for a day. Jim had immediately gotten himself set up as Xander's guardian, which ran all sorts of red flags for Sam, and had resulted in her investigating Xander's other parents. There was almost as little information on them as there had been on Xander. Jessica had the most, with a full file from birth to her early twenties, at which point she'd moved to Sunnydale and completely fallen off the radar. Xander's apparent stepfather (there were no adoption records) was as big a mystery as Xander himself ... only a birth certificate, high school diploma, and marriage license proved he existed. The speed with which Jessica had agreed to let Jim 'have' Xander pointed to either abuse or blackmail, and Sam was leaning more towards the former than the latter.

She passed that information on to Jack, and to Hammond, and let the two of them decide what they were going to do about it.

At about that time, Daniel had finally dug up all the information he could in academic circles regarding both Sentinels and Blair. He found himself very much confused by it, and eventually, they had a conference call with both Sam and Hammond, trying to make sense of the information they'd put together.

"There's virtually nothing about Sunnydale or its residents in any database." Sam said. "I've got a birth certificate for Xander and Tony Harris, a high school diploma and marriage license for Tony as well as a handful of school reports for Xander ... and that's it. No medical, nothing specific. Even Jessica seems to have dropped off the face of the planet once she moved there ... there's her marriage to Tony, and nothing else. Only thing that put Xander back on the radar was getting kidnapped and dragged to LA. Whoever snatched him really worked him over."

"They don't know who?" Jack asked.

"No ... apparently, Xander doesn't remember anything about the attack. It's not all that unusual, especially since he apparently got hit over the head fairly hard at least once." Sam told them.

"And they think Jon's a Sentinel."

"Yes. He can't be, though ... or you'd be one." Sam pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, but how do we explain that to them?"

Hammond finally spoke up. "We may have to ... educate them ... if it can be proved that Sentinels truly exist. We cannot dismiss the possibility that something Loki did forced Jon into being a Sentinel."

"I think we can prove they do exist, sir ... Jim knew that Teal'c wasn't exactly what he looked like. Kept demanding to know what Teal'c was." Jack pointed out.

"Which would indicate he could tell that Teal'c's internal structure isn't the same as a human's." Hammond said.

"Jim won't be a risk. He was a Ranger. He knows the drill. Blair ought to be ok as well. Our biggest worry is going to be Xander. He's just a kid, and kids talk." Jack pointed out.

"If his home life is anything like I suspect it might have been, Colonel, he's more mature than his age would suggest. He's also fairly bright." Sam said. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Any chance we can get them to work for us?" Hammond asked.

"Seriously doubtful, sir. Ellison was betrayed by a superior ... he's not going to want to risk that again, I don't think. Jon and Xander might possibly be recruited, but we'd run into the problem of Jack and Jon being under the same roof all the time." Sam said. Jack and Jon were highly uncomfortable around each other, rather understandably ... and besides, Jon needed to build a life separate from Jack's, and this might be the way to do it.

"Very well. They're still in place? I'll be there in half an hour, and we can discuss things with them." Hammond said, and the call ended.

Jon's Apartment

It was just as well that SG-1 hadn't extrapolated Jim's ability to 'hear' the differences in Teal'c's body at close range with an ability to hear conversations at a distance. Jim was having a lot of fun eavesdropping.

"There's someone called Hammond coming in about a half hour to tell us about things." He told Jon. "Want to run a few things by us and blow their minds?"

Jon was severely tempted to do so ... but decided against it. "Nah, just hit 'em with what you overheard when they show up." He said. "They're probably on their way to explain a few things that you picked up on anyway, especially with you wanting to haul me out of here."

"Why do they get a say in where you go?" Xander wanted to know.

"Going to have to wait for them to get here for the explanation to that one." Jon said. "But to put your minds at ease, Hammond is solid as they come. He's backed his people to the hilt from day one, against some pretty heavy odds." This was said more to Jim than the others, though the others would benefit from the knowledge. "The other four are ... well, they're good people." Then, with typical Jack-style mischief, he grinned at the other three. "Let's call out for dinner. It'll arrive about the time Hammond does."

Blair and Xander liked that idea, grinning widely. Jim was only slightly less enthusiastic. The call was made for some pizza, Jon using his knowledge of the people that would be arriving to arrange for pizzas they'd all like. That done, they sat back to wait.

Jim didn't bother asking how Jon knew so much about this Hammond, or why Jack and Jon seemed to be so intertwined in everyone's minds. Clearly, the answer would come, or not, in half an hour. Xander and Blair, of course, were nowhere near as sanguine about the whole thing. Blair paced around for a good ten minutes before Jim grabbed him by the collar and good-naturedly pushed him towards the couch. "Chief, you're going to wear a hole in the floor."

Blair huffed, but then relented with a grin. "Right, sorry. Just nervous."

Jim understood that. He was nervous too ... he was just a lot better at hiding it. He was not at all happy to be dealing with the military again, especially when the folks they were dealing with had 'heavy opposition'. That did not make Jim a happy camper at all, as he was realist enough to know that if the wrong people found out about his senses, he'd be in some very deep trouble very quickly.

Finally, Jim heard a vehicle arrive. He cocked his head and then grinned. "Sounds like your Hammond beat the pizzas here." He said. "They're on their way up."

One good look at Hammond, who led the group up to Jon's apartment (though not after some strenuous objecting from Jack) did much to reassure Jim of at least this one man's level of honesty versus corruption. Whether it was his senses filling him in or just experience, Jim didn't know or really care, but Hammond gave off the air of someone who genuinely cared for the people under his command and did his utmost to see to their well-being.

Hammond, for his part, gave the odd little group a once-over, noting much the same things as Jack and company had seen. Not that he distrusted their judgment, but it was nice to have it verified by his own eyes. A faint smile quirked at the corner of his mouth. "At ease, son." He rather doubted that Jim was even aware that he had instinctively straightened up into something remarkably close to 'at attention'. "It seems we have a bit of an odd situation on our hands here, gentlemen. And one that requires a good bit of explanation, on both sides. I suggest we get to it." The quirk became a full smile when Jim automatically relaxed in reaction to Hammond's 'order'. You could take the man out of the military, but taking the military out of the man didn't always work, even under the circumstances Jim had left the military.

There weren't anything like enough seats for everyone ... there was barely room enough in the small space for the nine people there now as it was, but Hammond took a kitchen chair while Xander, Blair, and Jim shared the couch, with Jon lounging at Xander's feet, feeling oddly unwilling to leave Xander exposed to ... danger? That thought didn't make a damn bit of sense to Jon, given that he knew SG-1 was about as dangerous to Xander as a wet paper towel, but there was a part of him that was insisting that Xander needed to be protected. It made no damn sense, but there you go.

Jack propped himself against a wall, with Sam next to him. Teal'c guarded the door while Daniel joined Jon on the floor, completely unselfconscious thanks to years of doing similar things in his work contacting the various populations (human and otherwise) among the stars.

Before they could do much more than get situated, the pizzas arrived. Xander and Jon both snickered at the looks on SG-1's faces when the pizzas proved to be their favorites. Jack shot Jon a look that was somewhere between disgust and amusement.

"Figured everyone might be hungry after spying on us for hours." Jim said, not quite able to keep the smug look off his face.

Hammond, well used to such hijinks, just shook his head in amusement as everyone grabbed some food. He abstained for the moment, instead pulling some papers out of the briefcase he'd brought with him.

"Gentlemen, I'm going to need you to sign these. They're nondisclosure forms. Everything we discuss tonight is not to be repeated to anyone except those in this room, or anyone we." He indicated SG-1 and himself. "Introduce you to."

Jim didn't so much as blink at the forms, but gave Hammond a look. "It goes both ways." It wasn't a question, or even a comment. It was a demand, backed by a level glare. "You tell no one. I don't care what smoke-and-mirrors job you have to pull with the Pentagon or whoever the hell it is you report to, but you never so much as mention our names. I find out you have, and the four of us will disappear without a trace." Jim had the skill and contacts to pull it off without resorting to Blair's contacts, but adding everyone around the world that Blair knew thanks to his and his mother's travels ... yeah. There'd be no finding the four of them if they went to ground. At least, not by conventional, earth-bound means of searching, but Jim didn't know SG-1 had access to other means of finding them.

To his credit, Hammond took the comment as seriously as it was meant. He'd shielded Teal'c for the last seven years, against people who'd known who and what and where he was. Protecting Jim and the others, when pretty much no one had any idea that Jim was anything special (if Jack was right and Jim was a Sentinel), or where they were at, would be far easier. "You have my word, Captain." Using Jim's old military rank to indicate it was a promise soldier to soldier.

Jim nodded his acceptance, and signed the forms. Blair was quick to follow. Xander took a bit longer, but that was more due to the splints he was still wearing making maneuvering awkward, rather than any reluctance to promise not to spill the beans. That done, they got down to business, with Blair explaining about Sentinels and Guides as he had for Jon, though this time he got interrupted repeatedly by Sam and Daniel, wanting nitty-gritty details. Unfortunately, in many cases, Blair just didn't have them. Finally, Blair wound down, and Jim gave Hammond a look.

At which point Hammond gave Jim and company an exceedingly bare-bones explanation of what SG-1 was and what they did, and who Jon was ... and even then, he only told them what they absolutely needed to know to understand Jon, and their interest in him. Which more or less amounted to 'there are aliens. Teal'c is one. SG-1 plays meet-and-greet. An alien decided to play Frankenstein with Jack's DNA, and Jon is the result'.

When all was said and done, Xander leaned over to give Jon a look. "And here I thought my life had got weird in the last year. You're going to fit right in in Sunnydale." He grinned.

"Why is that?" Sam wanted to know. "What's so special about that town? We couldn't find out much about it."

At which point it became Xander's turn to give a rundown of what's what. Sam openly scoffed at him ... at least until Jim and Blair both backed him up about vampires at least, having met Angel. She eventually had to admit that Angel's description did not fit any alien they'd met so far.

Daniel and Blair got into an enthusiastic discussion about Sentinels, aliens, demons and witchcraft and how the heck it all went together, as well as a heated debate about why Jon was a Sentinel but Jack wasn't. Sam, after her initial scoff at the existence of demons, began to chime in with her opinions as well. Jack, who'd very nearly gone nuclear when Xander explained about Sunnydale (mostly because he admitted that he and a few other teens were fighting the baddies, and kids in the line of fire was a major sore spot), eventually calmed down and watched Blair, Daniel, and Sam geek out with tolerant amusement.

Jon had been initially as upset as Jack, of course, but the more he thought about things, the happier he became. He'd known for a while now that the whole high-school thing wasn't even beginning to work, and that he needed something he could do ... he'd spent entirely too long being a 'man of action'. Sitting on his ass doing nothing was, at this late date, anathema. If he went to Sunnydale ... he'd be part of a team again. Protecting the world, again. And out from under Jack's shadow completely, able to (more or less) become his own person. And it sounded like Xander and company could use the help.

Jon shot a look at Jack, then at Hammond. "I'm going." He said, his voice cutting across the din from the geeks over in the corner.

Jack frowned. "You sure? I thought ... "

"Jack ... high school was a mistake. I can't figure out what the hell I ... we ... were thinking, agreeing with that. I may look sixteen, but ... well, shit. You know how low of a boredom threshold we have." Jon said.

To which Jack had to agree. And as he thought about it ... high school, again, would definitely end up being deadly boring. He was nowhere near as dumb as he liked to pretend he was, and with a couple of Masters' degrees under his belt, high=school-level scholastics would be ... agonizing. "Fair enough." He admitted.

Jon shot Xander a look over his shoulder, then looked at Jack again. "Y'think Frasier could give Xander here a leg up?" He asked the room in general.

Hammond thought about it for all of half a second before nodding. "She could indeed." He agreed. There was the problem of them having to bring Xander into the base, but ... maybe they wouldn't have to. Another location, with Janet bringing her portable healing tools, might serve as well. And he understood where Jon was coming from. It would be months before Xander was healed enough to begin learning to defend himself if things were left to heal normally. If Xander was half as intent on returning to Sunnydale as he seemed, that was going to be completely unacceptable.

Besides, Janet would want to vet Xander herself. She was rather proprietary about the soldiers under her care in general and SG-1 in particular, and Jon was, if not a member of SG-1, as good as. "You'd still need physical therapy, son, but we have access to ways of speeding up the healing process considerably." Hammond told Xander.

Xander looked rather thrilled by that idea. He wanted no part of being stuck sitting on his butt for weeks or months, waiting for everything to heal enough for him to be of use again. "God, please, yes. As long as I don't have to sell you my soul or any such thing." Xander told them.

"Nothing like that. I'll give our medic a call and arrange things for tomorrow." Hammond said. "You'll be staying overnight?"

"That long for sure." Jim said with a nod.

"Very well then. We need to get going, as we have things that need to be dealt with." And lies to tell. Hammond would have a lot of work to cover this little jaunt up, but he was able for it.


	14. Healing and Helping Hands

Healing and Helping Hands

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 22, Cheyenne Mountain

It was a good thing that Hammond had so much practice blowing smokescreens to buy SG-1 more time, or to camouflage some of their actions, or to protect Teal'c from less-than-benevolent types. It made coming up with a believable story regarding what SG-1 had been up to all the day before much, much easier.

Not that he was entirely sure everyone concerned bought the story, but then, they almost never did. The President had long ago learned to pretend that Hammond's reports were complete, factual, and hid nothing … for the sake of his own sanity, if nothing else. Worrying about what didn't get reported was a quick way to the loony bin. The NID, of course, was an entirely different matter, as was the much-despised Senator Kinnsey. There were days when Hammond wished that particular thorn would get clipped. Still, it would take them time to dig up the truth and then figure out what they wanted to do about it, and that was time that everyone wouldn't otherwise have.

Fortunately, he didn't have much time to worry about who would be trying to figure out what he hadn't reported, as Janet was prepping to go meet Xander and fix the poor kid up so he wouldn't have to spend the next two months in splints and unable to lift more than five pounds thanks to his abdomen being torn to heck and gone, and he had to prepare yet another smokescreen to explain her absence from the base. At least this time he had prior notice and could prepare the smokescreen ahead of time, rather than having to come up with something on the fly after the fact.

Even better, Thor had responded to Hammond's SOS. While Hammond had a hard time reading expressions on Thor's face, he got the distinct impression Thor was both worried and very angry … worried about Jon, and angry at Loki. Hammond didn't envy Loki later on, if it ended up that Jon's difficulties were Loki's fault.

Arranging a secure place off-base for Janet, Samantha, Jack and Thor to meet up with Xander and company was easy enough … there were, after all, other bases in the area, and Hammond was able to commandeer a building at Peterson AFB for the day, and get it cleared of all other personnel. This way, at least, no one would see or hear something they really didn't need to. Thor could easily beam himself in and out of the building, so no one would see him coming or going, either. Samantha, as the only person on-base other than Teal'c who could use the Goa'uld healing device (and Hammond tried to keep Teal'c away from other military bases as much as was possible) would be going with Janet, since the healing device was the quickest, and most transportable, way to fix Xander's injuries, once Janet had reassured herself that the injuries the LA hospital had found and repaired were the only injuries Xander had. Unless, of course, Thor pre-empted them, but Hammond wasn't going to count on that eventuality. It was enough that they were imposing on Thor over the Jon problem.

Of course, that necessitated yet another smokescreen. Hammond gave a mental sigh. There were times when he wondered if SG-1 went out of their way to see just how many times in a week they could give him heartburn (since he couldn't exactly earn gray hairs anymore). Hammond gave a small smile as he contemplated the next year or so. His official retirement was only a matter of time. He'd been grooming Jack, on the sly, to take his place, both because Jack was the most capable for the job and because Jack was pretty much the only person Hammond could trust to take his place when the time came. Oh, other military commanders could do the job … on paper, at any rate. But dealing with the SGC necessitated a far more … flexible … frame of mind than most people possessed. Not only would they have to deal with aliens pretty much every day in some capacity, they'd be faced with situations that the rulebook writers never dreamed of in their wildest nightmares, where the tried-and-true rules of the military just were not going to work, and forcing those rules on the situation would only lead to complete disaster.

The SGC also needed someone at the helm that was willing to fight for it against the sometimes heavy opposition in both the US government and abroad. While Jack would hate the paperwork, he was ideal in every other particular … he was unorthodox enough to take pretty much everything in stride, willing to bend, mutilate, break, or just outright ignore the rules when the situation demanded, and the good alone knew he'd fight to the death to protect the people under his command. If there was one thing Earth's enemies had learned over the last seven years, it was the fact that hurting or kidnapping any of SG-1 earned them the wrath of one Jack O'Neill (and the rest of the team, besides). Most folks didn't make the same mistake twice, as learning that lesson was inevitably rather painful.

Besides, Hammond considered it just repayment for the headaches Jack had given him over the last seven years to put Jack in a position where he'd be the one getting the headaches. That Jack seemed completely unaware that he was being groomed for Hammond's job was one of Hammond's few amusements. He'd long since made due mental note to have someone with a camera present when he finally retired and Jack was promoted to Hammond's position. Jack's reaction ought to be rather amusing.

June 22, Peterson AFB

Xander and Jon had spent much of the morning working on controlling Jon's sensory dials, as well as indulging in general 'getting to know you' chatter. Not that either of them had touched, yet, on the uglier issues and incidents in their pasts yet, of course, but they both quickly discovered that they had a surprising amount in common when it came to personality and temperament.

Blair, since he never traveled anywhere with Jim without bringing certain items (to help deal with sensory issues) had given Jon some lotion that Jim had to use whenever coming in contact with clothing or bedding that hadn't been washed by himself or Blair was unavoidable. The lotion helped heal and soothe the inevitable resulting rashes, and helped to at least delay the onset of the rashes, if he thought to apply it before contact.

Jon was, as a result, a good deal more comfortable, now that the rash that peppered more than half his skin was, if not healed, then definitely soothed. Xander had made due mental note to invest in a supply of the stuff himself. The practice with control had also, much to Jon's relief, seemed to strengthen his ability to keep the 'dials' where they belonged. At least for now, he didn't feel like the damn things were half a second from slipping out of his control if his attention wandered in the slightest.

The thing Jon found weird (and that was saying something, considering!), was that throughout the morning, he'd found himself paying a level of attention to Xander that made him squirm mentally. Unless he was actively trying to concentrate on something else, every sense seemed to automatically fixate on Xander. Worse, he found himself wanting to … crowd the kid. Sit really close, all that jazz. It was just as well that he was used to weird shit, or he'd be freaking out right about now.

Now, though, they were headed for Peterson AFB, and the appointment with Janet, Sam, and, apparently, Thor. Jon was looking forward to seeing Thor. He liked the little guy, and the feeling was mutual. Xander had piled into the SUV next to him, and was muttering under his breath, a constant stream of sound that Jon found himself concentrating to hear. It took him a good five minutes to realize that as a result, he was more or less ignoring the mass quantities of sensory information coming at him during the drive.

Sneaky kid. Jon approved wholeheartedly. He didn't really understand, despite Blair's explanations, why he was, apparently instinctively prioritizing any and all sensory information that came from Xander, but whatever the reasons behind it, it was working to keep him from getting overwhelmed, so he was cool with it. Since Jim didn't seem to be doing the same thing, Jon supposed it was because he'd only just met Xander, and with the whole Guide thing (which Jon did understand, at least on some level), he needed to 'learn' Xander's sensory baseline. It made more sense than any other explanation Jon could come up with, anyway.

Hammond met them at the gate, and they were waved through. Shortly after that, they arrived at the building, a small airplane hangar, that Hammond had commandeered for Xander's checkup and fix-up, and they drove the SUV right inside.

Janet had set herself up a miniature, mobile infirmary against one wall, complete with two beds and more diagnostic equipment than Jon could believe was truly mobile. Jack was leaning against the wall nearby, but staying out of the way, and Sam was helping Janet arrange the last few things Janet had brought that she'd thought she needed. The moment Xander and Jon were clear of the SUV, Janet pointed at the beds.

"Up, now, both of you." She commanded.

Jon automatically obeyed. Jack had learned, long ago, to not ever defy Janet, unless he wanted to spend an inordinate amount of time getting poked with very big needles in revenge. Xander needed Jim's assistance to get up on the bed, as he was incapable of hoisting himself up onto it, thanks to his still-splinted arms.

Janet had just started examining Xander when there was a flash of bright white light. Despite being abruptly essentially blind, Jon found himself off the bed he'd been on and between Xander and the source of the flash. Janet's outraged objection half a second after he roughly shoved someone he couldn't precisely see at the time away from Xander in an instinctive effort to protect him told him who he'd shoved away, and then Xander's hand was on his shoulder, and Jon was able to, after a minute or two, get his vision back online. He swiftly discovered that he wasn't the only one who'd put himself between a Guide and perceived danger. Jim had Blair tucked behind him, despite Blair's continuing attempts to evade that, and was staring down Thor like he wanted to kill him.

Thor, of course, seemed to be completely unconcerned, either because he didn't realize that Jim was contemplating his murder or because he knew his technology would stop Jim long before Jim succeeded, Jon wasn't sure which.

It was Xander that broke the stalemate. Now that Jon was more or less ok, Xander actually had time to look to see what the source of the trouble was. He got one good look at Thor and started laughing his ass off, literally falling back onto the bed and pretty much howling with amusement. Jack and Jon both started to snicker a little, well aware of the source of Xander's hilarity. Hell, Jack had found the fact that the Asguard were dead ringers for the 'Roswell aliens' freaking hysterically funny, once his mind had been his own again, after that first encounter. Even Sam started to grin a little. Jim was still in full-on protective mode, so he wasn't grinning or anything. Blair, on the other hand, looked like he was about to explode with questions, eyes wide as he stared at Thor.

It took Xander a minute or two to get himself under control. Eventually, the laughter trailed off to scattered giggles, and Xander managed to sit back up.

"Sorry, sorry!" He said, waving one hand a little. "Just … wasn't expecting this."

Hammond's mouth twitched with amusement. "Understandable, son." He told Xander. "This is Thor." Hammond didn't include Thor's titles. The less Xander and company knew, the better. It was just plain safer that way. "He's the one that helped Jon a few months back. Hopefully he'll be able to tell us if what's going on is what you think it is, or something else. And why it's happening." Then he turned to Thor. "Thor, this is Jim Ellison, Blair Sandburg, and Alexander Harris."

Thor nodded to them. "I am pleased to meet you." He told them, then turned to Jon. "If you would hold still for a moment, please." And then he ran some sort of doohickey (Jon had no idea what it was or what it did) up and down Jon's body a couple times, then blinked at the results. "Most intriguing. This is entirely unexpected."

Janet, who'd gone back to checking Xander over, turned her head to look at Thor. "Is that good news, or bad?" She wanted to know.

Thor didn't answer immediately, perhaps not quite understanding what Janet meant. After a few moments, however, he finally spoke again. "It would seem that a dormant factor in O'Neill's genetic structure was activated by natural conditions." He finally said. "The Asguard have files that record this genetic anomaly in a small number of your race in the past, but we were never able to map it in its entirety due to the rarity of the condition. We were able to find individuals who already had the condition, but discovering individuals who had the genetic anomaly that allowed the condition but had not yet begun to exhibit the condition proved to be impossible. We were able to discover, however, that the condition could only be brought on by certain conditions, namely a period of time with a marked lack of sensory input."

By this point, Blair was bouncing a good foot off the ground in his effort to not start interrogating Thor. It ended up being a losing battle.

"So you studied Sentinels? How much did you find out? You said it was genetic? Did you ever examine any Guides?" The questions spilled out of him in a rapid-fire assault that had Jim shaking his head in tolerant amusement.

Thor took the questions in stride. "Sentinels? This is the name that has been given to the condition? Then yes, we were able to examine a number of individuals, many of your years in the past. Yes, it is genetic, but we were unable to discover how or why the anomaly occurred, and were eventually forced to presume it was a natural mutation of your species' genetic structure." He paused for a moment, then, regarding Blair. "I do not know what you refer to when you speak of Guides, however."

That resulted in Blair explaining the whole Guide phenomenon. Thor was, to be blunt, utterly fascinated. "Intriguing." He finally said. "And no, we were, and are, completely unaware of this phenomenon. It would explain why the subjects we examined became completely unstable so quickly. And I believe I can answer the question as to why these 'Sentinels' have become so rare. Before Ra was driven from this planet, he became aware of the existence of 'Sentinels', thanks to these individuals being able to detect, and arrange for the death, of a number of very junior Goa'uld under his command, as well as a number of Jaffa. They apparently arranged a number of ambushes in the early stages of the revolt against Ra. Ra commanded that every subject suspected of the condition be killed."

Blair winced. "Which would have wiped out quite a lot of them, and ensured they couldn't pass on the genes that made them Sentinels in the first place." He said. "Though obviously, it didn't stop it entirely."

Thor nodded in agreement. "Shortly after that, Ra was driven from the planet by the general populace, so 'Sentinels' were not wiped out completely."

"And the fact that there needs to be a period of sensory deprivation at least partially explains why I never became one of these Sentinels." Jack said. "Especially if the deprivation has to happen prior to a certain point in the person's growth to adulthood." He had never faced a period of sensory deprivation that would have the potential to bring on the senses until his capture in Iraq when he was in his early twenties.

By that point, Janet had finally finished examining Xander to her standards, and finally turned to Sam. "Arms and torso." She told Sam. "Fortunately, nothing is really severe, and it has all started healing already, so it shouldn't take much to finish the job." She turned back to Xander. "Go ahead and lie back. It'll make it easier."

Xander willingly complied, and Sam, wearing the healing device, and an expression of ferocious concentration, as while she had enough naquadah in her blood to operate the thing, it wasn't exactly something that came naturally or easily, started running the thing slowly over Xander's upper body. Everyone else fell quiet while she worked, not willing to disturb her concentration and run the risk of fouling up Xander's healing. About five minutes later, Sam finally relaxed and stepped back.

"That ought to do it." She told Janet, who immediately began to run more diagnostics to check. A few minutes later, she smiled at Xander. "Well, according to all of this, you're now completely healed. I think we can remove those splints now." She said, and immediately began to remove them. "You are, however, still very weak, and are going to need some physical therapy to rebuild muscle tone and strength."

Xander, who was pleased beyond measure just by the fact that he no longer hurt (even the pain pills hadn't been entirely able to blot out the ouchies), never mind that he was apparently all better now, gave Janet and Sam both a shit-eating grin. "Physical therapy I can handle." He said. "Thanks for doing this. I was so not looking forward to another couple months of essentially being helpless." He eyed the healing device. "Any chance you can teach me how to work that thing, and let us borrow it for a while? That thing would come in very handy." Sure, Buffy seemed to heal fast from any cuts and bruises she got, but he, Willow and Giles for darn sure didn't.

Sam grinned at him. "Sorry, but only certain people can use this. And even if anyone could use it, we can't exactly let civilians have it. Way too much risk."

Xander'd figured as much, but it hadn't hurt to ask. "Damn. Figures. Oh well. Had to at least ask!" He slid down off the bed, not quite able to resist the temptation to test his range of movement, and grinned when he was able to twist and turn (even if he did it very carefully) without so much as a twinge of pain. "Much, much better." He sighed in relief. "Thank you."

After that, now that both Jon and Xander had been examined and given clean bills of health, everyone headed off, Thor first in another flash of light. At least this time, Jon was able to anticipate Thor's exit, and managed to both close his eyes and turn away before Thor flashed out. Jim, Blair, Xander and Jon left next, leaving Janet, Jack, Sam and Hammond behind as they needed to pack up Janet's equipment and supplies and let the base know they could have their hangar back.

Xander and company got back to Jon's apartment and Jon packed up his clothes. They'd be leaving for Cascade in the morning.


	15. Getting To Know You

Getting To Know You

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. Despite the title, folks, we're _finally_ out of the meet-n-greet stage, and other things begin to happen. Yay!

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

June 23, Cascade

They arrived back in Cascade well after the usual dinner time, feeling rather exhausted. Well, Xander and Jon didn't have much energy, anyway. It'd be a few weeks before Xander's stamina recovered, and Jon was still in somewhat shaky shape thanks to a couple of weeks of out-of control senses. Xander made sure Jon applied the lotion to all his rashes again before they collapsed onto Xander's futon. The loft was definitely getting crowded, but fortunately they were only a couple days out from being able to move into the larger apartment on the first floor.

Blair was the only one making much noise, but that was due to him getting everyone drinks and getting their luggage tucked somewhere out of the way while they waited for the delivery of their dinner.

If Xander or Jon had stopped to think about it, they'd both have gotten just a bit wigged out about how comfortable they felt with each other, like they'd known each other and been friends all their lives. Thankfully, neither one of them was thinking about things like that at the moment. Actually, Jon was mostly thinking about Sunnydale, and wanting to go there to get a feel for the town. Find out where the trouble spots were, where the demons (and that thought just sort of snuck in there) tended to hang out, which ones were bad news (all of them was his vote), that sort of thing. His mind was already dancing with half-formed plans for defense and offense. It was equal parts a lifetime of training in the Air Force and Spec Ops, and Sentinel instincts that was driving that line of thought.

Xander was, ironically enough, thinking along similar lines, though his thoughts were more concerned with himself, getting back into shape and learning to defend himself from nasties than they were with general, town-wide stuff. He was also contemplating Jon, and just how little he knew about the guy even now, though the whole 'clone of a fifty-plus man' thing sucked big hairy fat ones. Seriously. That had to kind of screw with Jon's mind a lot. Well, Sunnydale would distract him from the suckiness quickly enough, that was for sure.

Shortly after they arrived, Jim pulled Jon aside to talk for a little while. Xander glanced at Blair.

"Why do I think we're both of us going to live to regret that?" He asked.

"Because they're not only both of them Sentinels, but they're both military, and special forces military at that." Blair said. "And because Jim's got it in his head that you need to be as trained as it's possible to get you in the next couple months in order to survive Sunnydale. And he's probably going to drag me into it, because the good only knows I've gotten into some hairy spots over the last year."

"We're doomed." Xander said, sighing melodramatically, which made Blair laugh.

"At least they'll have to go slow at first, thanks to you being only just healed up." Blair pointed out. "And there's not enough time for either of them to get it into their heads to, well, give you the benefit of _all_ their training, if you know what I mean."

Xander was afraid he did. He had no idea what sort of training special forces types got in the military, but his overactive brain was coming up with all sorts of scary scenarios.

If either of them had known exactly what Jon and Jim were up to, they'd both of them have run for cover.

"So." Jim said as he parked himself on a bench. He'd taken Jon to a nearby park where they could talk without being overheard, especially since it was after dark. Technically they really shouldn't have been there, but no one was going to question Jim too closely. He was a cop, after all. "Xander wants to go to Sunnydale, and you've agreed to it. Which means we need to get him up to some sort of speed so he stands half a chance of surviving that mess."

Jon snorted as he sat down beside Jim. "Tell me about it. I've got vague plans for dealing with that place running already, but I don't know enough about the town to come up with something concrete. I'll get a better idea once I've scouted the place." He fully planned on at least trying to guilt some SGC weaponry out of the older half, if nothing else.

Jim snorted in amused agreement. You could take the man out of the military, but almost never the other way around. "Right, that leaves us with figuring out what to teach the kid while you're both here."

"No martial arts." Jon said almost instantly. "Except maybe Krav Maga. Everything else is just about worthless, at least against what he'll be facing." Krav Maga was all about ending the threat as fast and efficiently as possible, by whatever means necessary. Other martial arts, while effective in self-defense, played 'nicely'. That is, they had rules of engagement, and things you weren't to do because it wasn't sporting. Krav Maga didn't give a shit.

"Agreed." Jim said. "And Krav Maga has the additional benefit of teaching folks to use anything at hand to kick ass and take names." Which was a very good thing when you're up against something that's trying its level best to kill you. Other martial arts focused on made-to-purpose weapons, not how to use whatever happened to be lying around. "So we teach him to handle knives, staffs, billy clubs, that sort of thing."

"And guns." Jon's voice was hard and tight. "I doubt they'll ever actually use any, because they're all underage, but they need to know how to handle them if they come across them."

"A modified SERE course wouldn't hurt, either." Jim wisely ignored the sudden tension in Jon's voice. There was a story there, he was sure, but he wasn't going to pry. Not his business. "So he doesn't freak out of he ever gets grabbed by something that doesn't eat him right away again. And it'll teach him to be able to handle himself in the woods if he needs to." Jim snorted. "And I just might drag Blair into all this as well. He's going to end up needing it. Hell, he's already needed it, and not had it."

Jon nodded. "We're going to have to do most of this after dark. He mentioned that's when the bogies come out to hunt, which means that's when he and his friends are running around. Teaching him to do this in the light of day only won't do him any favors."

Jim nodded in agreement. "I think we ought to try to get that gal friend of his, Willow, in on this. If they're going to be doing this, they need to be ready. And Buffy, though I've got the feeling she's already got some sort of training under her belt." There'd been something in the way she'd threatened to deal with Xander's attackers and the way she held herself that made him think she could back up the threat, despite her size.

"And it'll give him someone his age to grouse at about how mean we're being." Jon said with an amused snort. "Since you and I won't exactly be his favorite people at first."

Jim snorted in amused agreement. "There is that." He leaned back. "I plan on getting some stuff from the Army Surplus." Some good, sturdy boots, if there were any that weren't pre-worn. Maybe an old tac vest, so Xander could carry a bunch of stuff without having to worry about it too much. Definitely some knives. He'd have to see what was on offer.

"Good idea. At the very least, the stuff's built to take a beating." Jon agreed. "Which is more than can be said for civilian equipment.

"Better wait for all this until everything's moved. Thank goodness there's three rooms. We're going to be packing folks in, if we get both girls here." Jim said. While some part of him disliked the idea, having been a fairly solitary man until rather recently, there was another part of him that rather liked the idea … the Sentinel part. After all, way back when, tribe members had tended to live in fairly close quarters, and having his 'tribe' that close made it far easier for a Sentinel to protect them. Even if most of the group wasn't, in all actuality, _his_ tribe, but Jon's.

Not that Jon was any less pleased than Jim about the idea. He definitely liked the idea of getting to know Willow and Buffy, whom he'd heard about, if only briefly. Giles … there was going to be a bit of friction there. Mostly because Jon thoroughly disapproved of the fact that the man hadn't even tried to teach Xander and Willow basic self defense when it became clear they were in the demon hunting business for keeps. That was just plain stupid on a level that generally got a lot of people needlessly killed, and Jon very much did not approve of it.

"We can use the basement of the building for a training area … most of it's not being used, so it wouldn't take much to get it set up over the next couple days." Jim continued. "Some mats and dummy weapons."

With a plan more or less set, the two men headed back to the loft.

"Xander, call those friends of yours in the morning. See if they're willing to come by, start of next week, to start training with you. No reason not to include them, and a whole ton or reasons supporting the idea." Jim said.

Xander cocked his head for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Willow will be all for it. Buffy … is going to be a bit of a harder sell." Mostly because she was the Slayer, and not only did that gig come with the whole 'keep it secret' thing, it also came with heightened reflexes and extra strength, which she was understandably leery of letting loose with around normal people. But Xander figured Jim could handle it. And while Giles may have been training Buffy, he was no Army Ranger. Or Air Force Spec Ops, for that matter. Jim and Jon just had to have fighting skills that Giles simply didn't.

The next morning (Xander had insisted on taking the couch, now that he was healed up and they needed a fourth sleeping spot.), they all rolled out of bed, and then Xander made his calls.

June 27, Cascade

Xander waited until Jim and Blair went to work to call Buffy. Mostly because this conversation was going to bring up the whole Slayer thing, if only for the reason that Jim and Jon would need to be told about it, and he didn't want to get into that argument when Jim was in hearing range. Well, he _hoped _Jim wasn't still in hearing range clear at the precinct, anyway!

It took him the best part of an hour to convince Buffy, both of the necessity of telling Jim and Jon, and of the prudence in training with a couple of guys who knew some hardcore fighting skills. They might never have had to deal with demons, but Xander was very sure that Buffy could easily translate the moves to something she could use on any given demon. Willow had been far easier to convince. Xander's barely gotten the request out before she was agreeing. Both girls had agreed to arrive on the twenty-seventh, giving everyone in Cascade time to get everything moved.

The new apartment was mostly settled, with just a few boxes left to unpack. For the moment, Jim and Blair were rooming together, as were Xander and Jon, while Buffy and Willow got the third room. There wasn't much room to spare in each bedroom, but it'd do until the end of summer, when it would be reduced to just Jim and Blair again.

Now, Jim, Blair, Xander and Jon were at the airport. Jon was sticking very, very close to Xander, but that had more to do with the fact it'd been less than a week since they'd met and his senses weren't anywhere near under complete control yet, and this was a very, very … chaotic environment. Xander was making good use of his tendency to babble, and muttering under his breath in a constant stream of chatter that wasn't really aimed at anyone or any one subject, but that Jon was focusing on in an effort to hear what he was saying just in case he did say something important. It was a surprisingly effective way of blocking out the worst of the noise, at any rate, which reduced the amount of stress Jon was dealing with considerably.

And then the two girls were bulling their way through the crowds. Willow, spotting a splint-less Xander, temporarily forgot herself and the fact that he was injured, and damn near knocked him flat on his back when she jumped at him and hugged him. Half a second later, she realized what she thought was an error, and backed off, babbling a mile a minute.

"Relax, Willow. I'm fine. All healed up. Jim and Jon have some pretty awesome friends." Xander told them.

"So you're Jon?" Willow asked, eyeing Jon. Xander had filled her and Buffy in on that when he'd called them. Well, not the clone thing, but just that Jon was a Sentinel.

"Nice at meetcha." Jon offered a hand to both girls, luggage was gathered, and they all headed back to the apartment, Jon sighing in relief when they were finally clear of the worst of the racket from the airport.

Once the girls had put their stuff in their bedroom, Jim corralled everybody to the basement, where he'd set up a good-sized area to train in.

"Right. Everybody knows the deal with Sunnydale. Giles may have been ok with letting two of you not get some sort of defense training, but I'm not. So all three of you are going to be getting some serious training, so you've got a better chance at surviving that place. Jon and I're going to be teaching you as much as we can over the next couple months."

"Ummm." Buffy said. "Before you go getting all gung ho … Giles has been training me." She hesitated for a long moment, eyeing the room. "I'm the Slayer."

Jim didn't so much as blink at that news. "Well then, we'll start with you, see where you're at, since Xander and Willow are more or less going to have to start at the beginning."

Buffy grimaced. "I don't really think … "

Jim snorted. "I was a Ranger, Buffy. Trust me when I say I can handle you."

Buffy snorted. "Just remember you said that later."

That was the signal for everybody else to get clear of the area covered in mats. Both Buffy and Jim did some highly abbreviated stretching. Xander, watching them, could see both of them getting their game faces on. Well, he assumed that was Jim's game face, anyway. Buffy's he'd seen enough to recognize.

They circled each other for a bit before Buffy decided to try something. Her first few attacks were very tentative, as if she was deeply afraid of hurting Jim. Jim treated the half-assed attacks with the contempt they deserved, and aimed a far more brutal strike at Buffy's side. Blocking that seemed to kick the half-pint into gear, because she started coming at him faster and harder.

She was insanely fast. Beyond anything that a normal human could manage. She was also damn strong. Unfortunately, whatever training she had was for shit, because she really didn't quite seem to know what to do with either advantage. Sure, the hits she got in hurt like hell, but she wasted a lot of time and effort flailing around to no real purpose. She had the potential to be one seriously kick-ass fighter, though, if she'd accept instruction.

Jim finally called a halt to the spar. "Not bad, all things considered." He told her.

Buffy huffed. "Not bad?"

"You're stong, and insanely fast." Jim said. "And with the right training, you'd be a menace the likes of which nobody's seen in a long time, but whatever Giles has been teaching you, it's not doing you any good."

Buffy huffed. "All right then, Mr. Smarty Pants, if you know so much … "

Jim waved a finger at her. "None of that, girl. First thing's first, and this goes for all three of you. Kicking is a last resort. I may not be fast enough to grab Buffy's leg, but I'm betting there's demons out there who could, and I know I could catch a normal person trying to kick me. And if someone grabs your leg when it's in the air, you're up shit creek without a paddle. So keep the feet on the ground as much as possible. Second rule … aim for any weak spot you can find. Joints, eyes, and necks are always a good bet, even with critters that aren't human. Might not kill them but it will damn sure slow them down a lot. And that goes for vamps as well as the other stuff. A stake through the heart might be the traditional way to off the bastards, but there's always the chance of missing the heart. Slicing their heads off … is a far safer bet, and has the advantage of keeping you a bit further away from their teeth, since you have to get close to get the leverage needed to push something like a stake through someone's chest."

Well, that was common sensible enough, Xander thought.

"Third thing, you lot are going to hate me within the next few days. We're going to be working on a fitness regimen. And working a lot of nights, to get you all used to doing this sort of thing in the dark. Hopefully, by the time you go back to Sunnydale, you'll be a force to be reckoned with."

Xander could quite easily get behind that, even if he'd hate getting there.


	16. Training Blues

Training Blues

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. Giles is NOT a bad guy. He just unfortunately only has Watcher-approved training methods to train Buffy with.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

August 1, Cascade

Xander hated Jim. Loathed him. Despised him. Willow agreed with him wholeheartedly, and even Buffy had gotten more than a bit grumpy lately.

Every evening, just after dusk, they all got dragged out of the apartment and worked over. First was a trip outside, to stretch. Then, depending on the night, one of several things happened. Some days they did speed running drills, push ups, sit ups, jumping jacks, and the like. Others, there was long-distance running to build stamina. Twice a week, they got run through an obstacle course that had been set up for them in an abandoned lot. Every night, there was also sparring practice, always outside in the dark in a variety of places, to help them learn to fight in any terrain and in any weather.

On the nights they didn't have the long-distance running, they did get a couple of hours indoors, when Jim and Jon drilled them in new moves. One of the first things they were all taught was how to fall safely. They were also taught new Krav Maga moves, weapon drills, and suchlike things in the basement. This allowed them to learn the new moves with a minimum of distractions before they had to practice them in the outdoor drills.

Xander, of course, had lagged behind everyone else at first. Fortunately, the lag hadn't been as bad as it could have been. His stomach muscles had gotten torn up, and his arms severely messed up, which meant having to rebuild a bit of muscle strength, of course. Fortunately, however, Xander hadn't added two or three months of inactivity and no lifting much of anything on top of the original damage, just three weeks worth. So he'd lagged behind the first week and a half, but then caught up to where he needed to be.

Xander had discovered, thanks to the weapon drills, that he tended to do very well with a stake, battle axe, and dagger in the short-range stuff. As Jim put it, Xander was damn good at stabbing and hacking at short range. Not so much with the slicing at slightly longer range that happened with a sword. Xander was quite happy with that, since swords were damn hard to hide and keep near to hand compared to the others.

Xander was also the only one in the group who could deal with more than crossbows in the long-range stuff. Buffy flat-out refused to do more than touch a gun to pick it up when Jon made them learn how to deal with them, and Willow hadn't been much behind her. As a result, Xander had decided to learn as much as he could, and quickly discovered he was a pretty good shot. He probably had all those video games to thank for that one. While he wasn't a crack shot, he could consistently hit center mass somewhere, which was good enough for him for the moment, and something he could work on to improve. And the group would at least have two people who understood and could handle guns, if the need came up.

It was fast becoming clear though, that Willow was going to have to be research girl for the most part. She managed stakes just fine, but most other weapons gave her trouble. Not that there was anything wrong with being research girl. She certainly had the brains for it, and had even begun to develop (with Blair's assistance) a computer program that listed demonic species by name, physical description, and threat level so that they didn't have to go hunting through thirty books to find what they were facing. Sadly, that program would take months or years to finish, but it would still come in handy.

Buffy, on the other hand, was becoming downright scary. Once she'd got over her initial pique (which hadn't taken long), she'd buckled down and really started to work. Jim and Jon both were pushing her as hard as they could, giving her the benefit of every scrap of their military training, and she was soaking it up (complaining about it, but soaking it up). She learned the Krav Maga moves at a truly frightening rate, and picked up on most of the military training except for guns just as fast. She'd already gotten to the point were Jim and Jon were talking about asking Angel up here for a while, since neither of them could match her speed in sparring, and she really, really needed to practice her moves against something that moved at the speed she did. Jim wasn't any too happy about that idea, but admitted it was necessary.

Both Jim and Jon had taken each of them aside for some serious talks about being soldiers. Not in an effort to get them to join the military, but to talk about the impact the sort of crap soldiers had to deal with had on them. The Scoobies, after all, might not be wearing fatigues, but they were definitely up to their eyebrows in a war. Xander had no idea what had been said to Buffy or Willow, since they hadn't talked about it, but his own talk with both men had given him a lot to think about.

And as if all of that weren't enough, Giles had come up after the first week, and they spent afternoons drilling in recognizing the most common demons by sight, and how to kill the dangerous ones. Giles was also starting to teach them how to read the most common languages that the books in his collection were written in, to make researching easier. He'd also taken a vested interest in the physical training, and had begun to participate when he saw just how much Buffy was learning, grumbling about the Council under his breath the whole time.

And on top of _that_, Jon and Xander had Sentinel and Guide training with Blair and Jim. For Jon, that meant learning what various scents and sounds that he picked up on were, including how to tell a real argument, siren, or what have you from something that was on TV, as well as learning which smells meant someone was scared out of their mind versus pissed off, among other things. They got a lot of practice on heading off zones and breaking Jon out of them in the process. They did a lot of experimenting with fabrics and foods and soaps and things, seeing what Jon could tolerate and what he couldn't. Here, they lucked out. While Jon got rashes from too-rough clothing or too-harsh soaps and detergents, he didn't seem to have the outright allergies that Jim did. Other than that quirk, the two men were quite similar in most respects.

Blair worked with Xander on the solely Guide bits, like learning to stay calm when something happened, because a panicking Guide was never a good thing. It either made their Sentinel go all Blessed Protector … and Xander had laughed quite a bit when Blair had described that phenomenon, and had called it the Mother Hen From Hell Syndrome … or their Sentinel wouldn't get the help they needed as fast as they needed it, which was very bad. Blair'd used one of his first acts as Jim's Guide, before they'd either of them admitted that's what they were, as an example of that. Xander had cringed at the thought of what could have happened if Blair had panicked with that garbage truck barreling down on Jim. Blair also taught him about a few tricks to help keep Jon from zoning that he wasn't ready to use yet, like piggybacking one sense with another.

And while Xander thought it was a bit kooky (and Jon agreed with him), he was also learning to deal with the spiritual side, because it was rather blatantly obvious to them both that, kooky or not, it existed. That meant learning to meditate and 'listening' for any hints from the spirit plane as well as keeping a sharp eye out for either of their spirit animals. Blair was also trying to help Xander get a bit more comfortable with his spirit animal. Not that it was working. Xander had _issues_ when it came to hyenas, and that wasn't going to change anytime soon.

So to say their days were busy was an understatement. Usually, they had to be forcibly dragged out of bed around nine in the morning, spent the daylight hours in one activity or another, headed out at dusk and didn't come back in to sleep until midnight or one in the morning. Fortunately, neither Jim nor Jon were slave drivers, and allowed them days off to kick back and relax now and again.

But despite the severe dislike for the torture they were undergoing, Xander was getting to know, and like, Jim. They'd probably never be father-sonish, Xander was really too old and jaded for that, but they were definitely comfortable with each other, and Xander thought Jim was pretty cool and someone he could turn to for advice if he needed it. Fortunately, Jim wasn't throwing a fit about not being called Dad or being treated like a dad. Actually, Xander had a feeling that Jim would freak a bit if Xander ever called him that and meant it, rather than saying it to play-taunt him.

Xander was also getting to know Jon (and vice versa), and that was going even better. They had very similar temperaments and senses of humor, and had a lot of fun snarking back and forth. Xander was able to help Jon get a handle on understanding and speaking the current California teen lingo, and Jon rather appreciated the fact that Xander had little interest in the typical teenage activities. There was still an age gap, of course, because his disinterest in idiot teenage activities aside, Xander was still a teenager, and hadn't yet matured mentally and emotionally into an adult, but after a year of weirdness in Sunnydale, Xander could handle getting adult advice and guidance from someone who looked his age.

As far as Jon was concerned, he'd found Nirvana. The Scoobies knew who and what he really was. Xander had refused point-blank to keep them in the dark. They hadn't done much more than blink during the initial revelation. Since then, it'd been accepted as a matter of course.

Today was a different day than usual. They'd quit early last night in order to get a good night's sleep, because today they were returning to Sunnydale for a day trip and recon. They'd had an early morning flight to give them as much time as possible in Sunnydale today, and they wouldn't be returning to Cascade until tomorrow morning, to give Jim and Jon a chance to observe the usual nightly mayhem and the Scoobies' usual routine.

Xander was sitting next to Jon in the middle seat of the van, Jim was driving with Blair riding shotgun, and Giles and the girls were in the back seat.

"All right gang. There's the Sunnydale sign. The thing should read 'Abandon hope, all ye who enter here.'." Xander snarked.

Jim drove them through the entire town, with Xander and the rest of the Scoobies alternating pointing out various points of interest. Xander was intrigued to discover that Jim's reaction to Angel hadn't been a once-off. He'd started tensing up a couple miles outside Sunnydale. Better yet, Jon had started to tense up shortly after Jim had. Both had given certain places … and not all of those places were ones the Scoobies introduced as demon havens … death glares and the school had gotten a pair of pissed-off growls. Once they'd done an initial drive-through, Jim parked the van in front of Buffy's place and they all piled out, to be greeted by Joyce.

Jim and Jon both had had rather strong opinions on telling Joyce about Buffy and what she did. Neither of them had liked the idea of Buffy lying to her mother. Eventually, Buffy had decided they had a point, if for no other reason than that Joyce deserved to know what had really happened to her daughter if and when Buffy died. So they'd planned on dragging Angel out of his hidey-hole and making him play show and tell again later tonight, so Joyce had proof. And no, Xander wasn't snickering at Angel being show-and-tell again _at all_.

Xander damn near got hugged to death by Joyce when he walked in the house, and Joyce marveled at how healed he was and how good he was looking. They had lunch, then went for a daytime stroll so Jim and Jon could get a closer look at the town before things got dangerous. Xander made a mental note of the places that Jim and Jon reacted to the most strongly that weren't on the Scoobies' trouble radar. Then it was time for dinner.

Eventually, dusk fell, and Angel arrived, looking much put-upon. Giles sat Joyce down and explained the whole demons and Slayers thing. Joyce stared at a vamp-faced Angel for about a minute in silence before she broke down in horrified tears and hugged Buffy.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart." Joyce said when she calmed down a bit. Xander knew she was referring to the whole 'throw Buffy in a padded cell' thing.

Buffy gave her mom another hug. "It's ok, mom. Not like it's something easy to believe or obvious, you know?"

Joyce then stared at Giles and Jim. "You're teaching her?"

Both men nodded. "Everything we can." Jim confirmed. "And from what Giles has told us, the vast majority of it is stuff that's normally not taught to Slayers. I'm really, really not liking this Watcher's Council, to be honest."

And in Jon's case, that was putting it mildly as hell. When Jon had got the full story on the Council, he'd thrown an epic, ranting fit and had wanted (probably still did) to drop a bomb on the idiots. Not that Xander disagreed with that.

And then Joyce calmly got up and got right in Angel's face. "As for you … if you ever so much as look at my daughter wrong, I will take great pleasure in dousing you with gasoline and lighting a match … are we clear?"

Xander didn't blame Angel for looking a touch startled and alarmed, because he'd had no idea Joyce could sound like that. He was beginning to see where Buffy got her fierce side from, now, because damn. _He _wanted to run and hide, and he wasn't even the focus of Joyce's ire.

They spent another hour or so talking about things, which had resulted in Xander getting a rib-crushing hug when the whole CPR thing came to light. And got Angel a pissed-off death glare. And resulted in a lot of angry muttering when the whole 'the Harrises suck, oh, and Jim's my dad' thing came up. When they finally wound down and got ready to head out, Joyce insisted on going with.

Halfway through their town walk-through, Xander sidled up next to Buffy. "You know, I think we could just hand your mom a sword and tell her somebody hurt you, then grab some popcorn and watch the show, and you'd never have to patrol again."

Buffy gave him an amused grin. "I know, right?" She sighed. "I'm glad you guys pushed to do this. It … it'll be nice, not having to hide it from mom."

"And having someone else who's looking like she's going to back you to the hilt. I will not be at all shocked if she asks Jim to teach her a few things. And I truly pity the Council if any of them show up here. She's going to crucify them."

It being August, they didn't run across anything demonic until they went into Willie's Bar. Even there, there'd only been a half-dozen demons, only one of them a vamp. Which ran like hell when it spotted Buffy. So did two of the other, smaller demons. Only the three big ones stayed, and even they eyed her warily. Joyce's eyes had gotten very big at the sight of them. Jim and Jon had just given the entire room a death-glare and growled almost non-stop until they headed back out. Even then, Blair and Xander almost had to drag their respective Sentinels out of the room.

Once the general night tour was done, the Scoobies led Jim, Jon, and Joyce on their usual patrol routes before they finally called it a night and headed in.

"You're wanting to come back, aren't you?" Joyce asked Xander when they got back into the house, sans Angel, who'd slouched off before they went on the patrol routes.

Xander knew she'd initially assumed he'd be staying with Jim, once she'd found out Jim was his father. "Yeah. Yeah I am. I can't … I can't walk away from this, Mrs. Summers. I just can't. Even if Buffy wasn't a factor, I had to stake one of my best friends. I really, really don't want anyone else to lose someone like that if I can help it. I know I can't stop it all, but damnit, if I can keep one person alive who would otherwise have got eaten or turned, it's damn well worth it. And Buffy is a factor, because she needs all the help she can get in this damn town. Giles told us there's never been a Slayer stationed on an active Hellmouth before, that he knows of. Expecting her to handle this place alone is stupid as hell."

Joyce nodded. "Then you and Jon can live here with us. We've got the guest room upstairs, or we can convert part of the basement if you'd rather. That way you boys don't have to worry about having to get a job to afford someplace to live, and can concentrate on school." And slaying, but she didn't need to say that.

Xander and Jon looked at each other. "The guest room, and two twin beds, would probably be best, Mrs. Summers, as we're probably going to end up turning your basement into a training area when we get back." Jon finally said.

Xander wasn't about to argue. Buffy was a huge freaking target, and having backup living at her house was a good idea. It protected her and her mother both, as well as giving Xander and Jon somewhere to live without worrying about rent. Not that they'd have had to, since Jim had said he'd take care of that, but still. Xander liked this idea.

Eventually, they headed to bed, and the next morning they headed back to Cascade and another few weeks of training hell.


	17. The Return of the Scoobies

The Return of the Scoobies

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

August 28, Cascade

Before any of them really realized it, summer was over and it was time to return to Sunnydale.

To say the last two months had done the collective Scoobies (Giles included) a world of good was to vastly understate the case. While none of them, not even Buffy (though she, by far, came the closest) were now black belts or otherwise fully-trained, they were a long, long way from where they'd started, which had basically been 'flail and pray'. Even Giles, who'd been somewhere between Willow and Xander's level of competence and Buffy's had improved.

Personally, Xander would always treasure the expression on Angel's face when he'd arrived a couple weeks ago to spar with Buffy, giving her a chance to work out with someone with comparable speed, strength, and agility. If the way he'd started the first sparring session was any indication, Angel had clearly not been expecting much by way of improvement in Buffy's fighting skills. The look on Angel's face when she handed him his ass inside of about two minutes had damn near had Xander rolling on the floor laughing.

Of course, Angel hadn't exactly taken the defeat lying down, and had bounced back up to try again, but it quickly became clear that short of Angel doing his level best to truly kill Buffy, she could at worst fight him to a standstill. Buffy had been understandably pleased with that improvement. Jim had cautioned her against getting cocky, because Angel was clearly out of practice, having not done any 'hunting' for a hundred years. Not to mention that Angel wasn't really wanting to kill Buffy, so he wasn't pulling the really lethal moves out of his arsenal. Still, given that the bulk of vampires in Sunnydale were newly-risen and on the dumb and incompetent side, Buffy wouldn't have much of anything to worry about.

Better still, at least as far as Xander was concerned, if the whining was anything to go by, Angel was on the verge of, essentially, taking his blocks and going home. He was not at all fond of being used as a show-and-tell device, nor of getting his ass handed to him, even if it was by a Slayer. Xander, Jim and Jon's 'don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out' attitude towards Angel definitely hadn't improved matters. Buffy wasn't all that happy about it, of course, but Xander couldn't really find it in himself to encourage Angel to hang around, even if it made Buffy happy.

Jim and Jon both had had long talks with all of them, in private. Whatever they'd said to Giles had really lit a fire under the Brit's ass where the Council was concerned. Not that Giles had been the Council's biggest fan before then, but he seemed far more ready to actively revolt against their decrees than he had been before the start of summer.

For his own part, the talks he'd had with both Jim and Jon had helped Xander put Jesse's death in a better perspective. Neither man was a counselor of course, but just talking things out with someone who'd faced down death and dealt with personal tragedies helped immensely. He'd always miss Jesse, but at least now he wasn't as eaten alive by guilt as he had been. And it had helped deal with the aftermath of the events of the last year, too. Especially the prophecy mess. He was even beginning to come to terms with what'd happened when he'd been possessed by the hyena. So much so that he'd finally confessed to Buffy that he remembered.

Much to his relief, her reaction had been rather similar to Willow's. She'd smacked him for trying to 'spare' her, and told him she didn't blame him for what had happened. And then had hugged him hard enough to threaten his ribs.

"I didn't thank you when it all happened." She'd told him. "So I'll say it now. Thank you."

Xander hadn't needed clarification on what the heck she was talking about.

Xander tossed the last of his new clothes into a duffel bag and zipped it up. They were going to be flying back to Sunnydale the next morning, and he wanted to get everything packed up now. Jon was across the room from him, doing much the same. Xander paused when he saw Jon cock his head to one side.

"Jim?" Came Blair's voice from the living room.

"We're about to have visitors." Jim did not sound at all pleased by that idea.

Jon and Xander traded a look and headed into the living room. Buffy and Willow joined them a few moments later, and then the doorbell rang.

Jim, his face very, very blank, answered the door. On the other side was an older man with a full head of silver hair and glasses, a couple inches shorter and a good deal more lightly built than Jim, from what Xander could see. He looked like an older version of Giles, in a lot of ways. He also looked about as happy to be there as Jim did, which is to say not at all.

"James."

Xander couldn't see Jim's face, but the body language spoke volumes. Jim was very much not a happy camper. Blair was eyeing the two men worriedly, and he wasn't the only one.

"I'd ask what you're doing here, but I already know." Jim half-growled. "You never could mind your own damn business."

"My son is my business." The man snapped.

Oh. So ... grandpa. And Jim clearly didn't have the best relationship with the man. Xander fought down an amused snort.

"I stopped being your business when you washed your hands of me because I wasn't interested in numbers, profits, and being your lapdog." Jim snapped. "And if you think you're going to just waltz back into my life now, you've gravely mistaken."

Xander's eyes went wide. Ouch. He had no idea if that was true, of course, but even if it was, that was ... blunt and vicious. And weirdly comforting, because even Xander could figure out at least part of what was going on here. Jim's father must have heard ... through some means ... about Xander. And Jim clearly thought that Xander needed shielding from the man.

"I would think it wouldn't be up to you." The man returned, surprisingly calmly.

"Xander." Jim called over his shoulder. "You have any interest in running a big business?"

Xander grimaced. "Not hardly."

"He is, therefore, worthless to you." Jim told his father. "Go tell Steven to sire you some heirs for the throne."

"Ouch." Xander muttered. "Now I see why his spirit animal is a cat. Because that was more than a little catty."

Jon nearly choked in his effort to not laugh.

Xander crossed the living room to stand beside Jim, who was still blocking his father from actually entering the apartment. "Xander." He introduced himself to man. "And I really don't want anything to do with running a business." He grimaced in distaste. "But I'd still like to get to know you, if that's all right." He eyed Jim. "And my uncle."

"William." The man introduced himself, then eyed Jim as well. "And that would be agreeable, young man. Though, for right now, I believe I'd like to have a talk with your father."

"Outside." Jim said, clearly unwilling to let the man into the apartment.

William sighed, but acquiesced, and the two of them walked out, the door closing firmly behind them.

"Ok, why do I have the impression it's going to be less talking and more yelling?" Xander asked the room at large.

"Because that's what it looked like?" Buffy offered.

Jim came back, alone, about an hour later, jaw twitching in annoyance. He handed Xander a card with William's contact information on it. "Don't expect much. Especially if he finds out about Sunnydale. Or that you're a Guide."

Yeah, definitely a story there, and not a happy one. Xander took the card and put it in his pocket, resolving to call once they'd gotten settled in Sunnydale.

August 29, Sunnydale

Jim and Blair dropped them all off at the airport just after dawn, since they'd gotten an early flight.

"I got you guys some things." Jim told them. "Since sending it by air was ... impractical ... it's being sent by truck. Ought to be there sometime tomorrow."

Xander grinned. "Lemme guess. Knives, daggers, axes, swords, and whatever army surplus stuff you could get your hands on?"

Jim laughed. "Got it in one." He admitted. "Figured you guys would be able to put it to good use. Also got you some equipment so you could carve your own stakes as you needed them, and a small stockpile of holy water. Not much of that, since getting too much from any one place would have gotten people curious, but some."

"We'll call as soon as it arrives." Xander promised. "And thanks for getting it."

"You're welcome." Jim said.

There was an awkward moment as the two of them tried to figure out whether to hug, shake hands, or what, before they finally settled on a still very awkward shake-and-half-hug.

"Take care of yourself. If all goes well, we'll drop by for the weekend at the end of the month." Blair said. "And if you have any questions or problems, call!"

"We will." Jon promised.

Then they had to get going, and, a few hours later, landed in L.A. Joyce met them once they got past the gates, and they drove the rest of the distance to Sunnydale. Giles was dropped off at his place, and the rest of them headed for the Summers' house.

"We really appreciate you being willing to put us up, Mrs. Summers." Xander said.

Joyce smiled at him. "Nonsense, Xander. You're helping Buffy. That's worth a lot more than room and board. And call me Joyce. That goes for both of you." Then she looked at Xander. "I stopped by your parent's place shortly after you guys came down here the first time, and talked them into giving me your things. There wasn't much, but it's all upstairs already. I figured you wouldn't want to go anywhere near them."

Xander let out a whoosh of air. He didn't really have anything that was worth money, a few CD's aside, but he did have a few things that had a ton of sentimental value ... mostly the few things he still had of Jesse's, which he'd sort of hidden in the back of his closet after Jesse ... died. He hadn't been able to put them away at the time, but he hadn't been able to stand seeing them, either, so shoving them to the back of his closet had been the best compromise he'd been able to come up with. "Thanks M ... errr, Joyce." He caught himself just in time to keep from calling her Mrs. Summers.

He headed upstairs to check what had gotten retrieved and to unpack his new things. Much to his relief, the few things he had of Jesse's were among the stuff Joyce had gotten. He put them on the shelf in the closet for the time being, and turned around to see Jon watching him with a look of understanding in his eyes.

Jon had never said exactly who he'd lost that hurt so badly, but whoever it was, their death still haunted Jon. Xander still wasn't sure which of them had gotten more choked up during that part of their talks. It rather abruptly occurred to Xander that while Jack probably had some sort of reminder of the person, Jon didn't seem to.

"You know, you should get pictures. Or copies, or whatever." He said. "From Jack."

Jon blinked. Truth to tell, the idea hadn't occurred to him. "Maybe." He said after a few moments.

On one hand, he wasn't sure he wanted the visual reminders, but on the other ... he was going to outlive them ... possibly even Teal'c, even if the big guy died of old age and not in the middle of some battle. Bra'tac had been, what, nearly a hundred and forty, and only then running out of time due to not being able to carry a larvae anymore? Teal'c didn't have that worry, so who know how long he'd last, given the chance ... but Jon had another sixty years at a minimum ahead of him, possibly more, so it was anyone's guess who would go first. And really, that was a morbid thought and he needed to quit that shit right now.

He got his own stuff stowed and then they headed back downstairs, just in time for lunch. After lunch, Giles arrived and they cleared the kitchen table before hauling out maps, notebooks, and pens to map out a plan of attack for how to deal with Sunnydale.

"Ok, I figure, no matter what sort of goodies Jim is sending us, we need to place weapon caches around town. We're not always going to have the time or ability to run back here or to the school to get weapons if something goes down." Jon said.

"We can use one of the crypts in each of the graveyards." Buffy offered. "We'd just have to make sure it's empty before we stash stuff in there, and keep it that way. If we do it that way, we'd really only have to find a spot to put stuff down on George and Fourth, since there's a cemetery within a couple blocks of pretty much everyplace else in town."

Jon scanned the map for the locations of the graveyards, then nodded. "That works. We can use the Atkinson factory for our spot down on George and Fourth ... factories always have extra crap laying around, so it'll be easy to hide a stash somewhere near there. And we need somewhere more secure to stash stuff at the school. Maybe some unused storage closet or something, rather than the library itself. We can always switch out the locks on it so only we can get in there. Not like anyone's going to really notice in this town."

"That would work." Giles admitted. "I should perhaps move my collection of occult books as well. The library is quite convenient for meetings, but if the Hellmouth opens, there's no telling how much damage would be done before we got it contained, and some of those books can't be replaced."

"Well, we were planning on converting the basement anyway." Xander said. "Why not go whole-hog? It's big enough to have half of it be for sparring and weapons storage and the other half full of bookshelves and someplace to sit and read. And we wouldn't have to worry about Snyder showing up unexpectedly." He tapped his fingers on the table for a moment. "Put the library on the far wall from the stairs that lead to the yard, and the sparring section by the stairs, since that's the bigger area anyway."

August 30, Sunnydale

The truck arrived shortly after breakfast. It turned out to be a small U-Haul truck. Xander stared at it for a minute, then looked at Jon. "If it's full, I'm going to kiss him. Just so you know."

Jon laughed, and then they opened the back end. Much to Xander's disappointment, it wasn't filled with goodies, but there was quite a haul despite that.

One side was stacked waist-high with ... what turned out to be most of the stuff from the basement of Jim's apartment building. The mats, dummy weapons and some of the targets had all been sent to them. The other side had several stacks of flat boxes of varying sizes, which, when opened, proved to be holding a variety of weapons. Big, heavy KA-Bar knives, smaller, lighter knives that looked to be made out of different metals, three different axes, a double-bladed beauty that had Xander drooling, a single-head, and a wood-splitting type axe. Four crossbows and enough arrows with different shaped heads of different materials to make most people nervous, and a huge box of empty grenade shells that they'd be able to fill with their choice of nasty.

"I think I love my father, just a little bit." Xander said, staring at all the loot.

"I think I'm getting a crush on him." Buffy admitted, which made Xander laugh and grimace at the same time.

"Your dad's nearly as bad as I am." Jon said, not looking at all unhappy about the idea. "The only thing missing is explosives, which I'm not about to trust you three with ... yet. Let's get this stuff in the house before the neighbors notice."


	18. Dusty Masters, Part 1

Dusty Masters, Part 1

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

September 1, Sunnydale

Sadly, they didn't have much time to enjoy the spoils Jim had sent them, as the next day was school.

Giles went with Jon to help him get registered early that morning.

"I must warn you that Principal Snyder is a fairly unpleasant person." Giles said.

Jon snorted. "Yeah. I've heard tales from Xander and Willow. I'll restrain myself from shoving his teeth down his throat, I promise."

Giles cocked an eyebrow at him as if to say 'We'll see'. He had little doubt that Jon could control himself under normal circumstances, but he got very ... trigger-happy where Xander was concerned, and Giles wasn't too sure Jon would be able to keep his mouth shut if Snyder started in on Xander ... and Xander was one of Snyder's favorite targets, not too far behind Buffy.

Fortunately, the problem didn't come up, as Snyder wasn't there to harass them as they filled out the necessary forms. A short while later, Jon was heading to class. And rather quickly discovered a problem. The return to school marked the first time that Jon was exposed to large amounts of sensory data without Xander within easy reach. He was new enough to his senses that by lunchtime, he had a massive headache and was teetering on the edge of a zone-out or spike, despite having 'reached out' with his senses to concentrate on Xander's heartbeat. Actually, that had somewhat contributed to the problem, as while he could do that, doing it repeatedly just stressed him further.

Fortunately, Xander got one good look at him at lunchtime, grabbed their lunches, and hauled Jon outside, to a spot under the bleachers by the football field. Jon leaned against Xander for a few minutes, his eyes closed as he concentrated on Xander's scent and heartbeat, got his senses back on an even keel and started to relax. Finally, he opened his eyes and sat up.

"Well, that's going to make school a problem." He grumped.

"Not really." Xander pointed out. "Now we know you can't go that long ... at least not yet. So we arrange to cross paths between classes so you have a minute to re-center yourself. Should do you. Once you get used to the place, I don't think you'll need to touch base as often ... Jim's a year ahead of you, and according to Blair, he's fine working on his own on crime scenes for short periods, nevermind at the precinct itself."

Jon relaxed a little. "So it's just a question of getting used to it."

"And maybe getting it settled in your head that this is your territory." Xander said. "Either way, it'll happen."

Jon grabbed his lunch and the two of them ate before coming out from under the bleachers and heading back into the school ... only to run into Cordelia, who wrinkled her nose at Xander.

"What's this? The dork escorting another dork?" She asked.

Jon gave her a level, grumpy glare. The implications seemed to sail straight over her head.

"Cordelia, you really need to leash that mouth of yours. One of these days, it's going to bite you in the ass." Xander warned, well aware of the fact Jon was getting annoyed on his behalf. "And this is Jon O'Neill. He transferred in from Colorado Springs, Colorado."

Cordelia turned her attention to Jon, nose already in the air. "Word of advice. You want to be anything in this town ... stop hanging with the losers. I'll cut you some slack today because you're new and don't know better."

Jon cocked an eyebrow at her. "Popularity contests are for the weak-willed and the losers. I don't give a shit. Not about being popular and for damn sure not about your opinion of me. I'll hang out with whoever I damn well please." And with another glare at her, he urged Xander towards the school.

Xander went willingly enough. "I think you might have broken her brain just a little bit. She's all about popular opinion."

Jon snorted. "Yeah. That's going to work out real well for her. Especially here."

"Hey, no arguments from me." Xander said. "Just try not to eat her alive, all right?"

Jon snorted. "I'll try."

That evening they gathered in the library. First task was to complete their homework, which was done fairly swiftly as they'd all taken full advantage of study halls that day. Once that was done, they started piling Giles' occult books into boxes for transfer to the Summers home. Fortunately, while there were a number of books and old weapons, there wasn't so much that it would be impossible to get it all transferred in one evening.

Especially with Joyce's unexpected help at the house. She had, evidently, gone out during the day and bought a number of bookcases and assembled them in the basement. Which the Scoobies discovered when they got to the house with the first load. She met them outside and directed them to the side of the house and the basement's separate entrance.

"Rupert, do any of the books require special handling? Aside from gloves to keep skin oils off them, I mean." Joyce asked.

"Actually, none of the books I brought with me require even that much." Giles admitted. "Rather impractical to have such delicate tomes in the field, since maintaining the conditions required by such books isn't always possible."

"All right then. You lot keep bringing the boxes, and I'll unpack them. I won't be able to keep up, but it will reduce the amount of work you'll have to do once you've got all the boxes here." Joyce told him.

"That will be much appreciated, Mrs. Summers." Giles told her.

"Call me Joyce, please. We're going to be working together for a long time to come. Being formal is sort of silly."

"Quite so, ... Joyce. Hopefully, between us, we can keep these hooligans alive indefinitely." Giles said. "Though, if you are going to insist on helping, I am going to insist on you learning to defend yourself effectively. Actually, I was going to insist on it regardless. As Buffy's mother, you are a prime target for the unsavory elements trying to contend with the Slayer."

Joyce grimaced. "You do have a point. All right."

Outside, Jon grinned. "Good. Joyce agreed to learning to defend herself."

Xander stared at him. "Giles brought that up to her?" He asked. "What the heck do you and Jim say to him? Seriously? Because he's gone from 'go away little children, this isn't your affair' to 'all right. More help is good, and trained help is better.' It's both awesome and alarming."

Jon shrugged. "Mostly, we just hammered at the Council's ideas that he got brainwashed into believing with reality." He admitted. "And logic. Until he caved, and realized that what they'd been teaching him was mostly bullshit, and really fucking bad ideas to boot. He was part way there on his own anyway, so it really wasn't all that hard."

A few more trips, and then all the books and weapons had been transferred, and they all settled in to help unpack it again. The library was set up on the far side of the basement from the access to the yard, with the stairs up to the first floor between the library and the exit. The main section of the basement, slated to become their indoor training facility, was also set up. Well, sort of. They put down the mats and put the dummies into place, but they needed to get shelves and mounting brackets for the weapons, so it wasn't quite complete. Plus, they wanted to get a few cabinets to hold things like the grenades, some super-soakers, and their supply of holy water as well as first aid items. Joyce started considering installing heavy-duty, high-pressure showers in the corner by the washer, dryer, and water heater after hearing some of Giles' tales of the mess some demons left behind.

"With shelves that hold clean clothes for everyone, so you don't have to worry about tracking the mess into the house, if you run into some of those." Joyce said. "You'd be able to hose yourselves down and throw everything straight into the washer." She frowned slightly, considering. "Though I should probably invest in a bigger, better washer and dryer. And hot water tank." She gave her head a shake. "I'll never understand how you deal with this normally, when it's just you and the Slayer." She admitted.

"It is nowhere near so pleasant. Or well equipped." Giles admitted. "Granted, in some places, it's simply impossible to be well-equipped, due to being in a third world country or far from civilization and its accoutrements." Then he took a deep breath, and glanced briefly over at the Scoobies, who'd already had the upcoming discussion in Cascade.

"You should know ... I think the Council is hoping that Buffy will be killed, swiftly." He flinched from her glare. "Firstly, they sent me in. I am ... was, anyway, a research Watcher, not a field agent. Though Jim and Jon have been assisting in correcting that lack." He sighed. "And they have not asked us to relocate. They know what Sunnydale sits on top of, and they know it is far beyond the abilities of any one Slayer to police this town effectively and survive. And it is not normal procedure for a Slayer to be stationed in any one place. They go from town to town, city to city, dealing with problems as they arise."

"Yet Buffy remains here, with you, and no sign of them trying to get her out of here." Joyce almost growled. "Right ... any of them show up here, they're getting a fist in the face." Then she looked at Giles. "Should we move?" She glanced over at Buffy. "You're being awfully calm about this."

"We talked about it over the summer, mom." Buffy admitted. "I already got my mad on."

Giles shook his head. "Were these ordinary circumstances, I would have moved us, yes ... but they're not. You're here, supporting her. She also has Willow ... and Xander and Jon. Xander's father has promised to come down and visit ... and presumably help ... from time to time, and Jon's friends can likely be counted on to assist." Especially since one of the 'friends' was Jack. "With that much assistance on hand, there is going to be very little we can't deal with, and if something that bad comes up, I will not hesitate to evacuate us."

Joyce nodded, accepting that. "I'll hold you to that, Rupert. I'm not particularly fond of the thought of my daughter dying young."

September 5, Sunnydale

The week passed in a blur of activity. Xander's plan of meeting up during the breaks between classes seemed to solve Jon's issue with getting too stressed. They split their evenings between setting up the basement fully, with Joyce heading out during school hours to buy the things they needed to convert the basement to their needs, and patrols, dusting an increasing number of vampires as the demonic population gradually increased alongside the slow decease in daylight hours.

Friday night marked the completion of the adjustments to the basement, as they mounted and filled the shelves meant to hold their clean clothes near the shower that had been installed earlier in the week. They'd just finished that when Jon's head snapped up. "Angel's coming." He warned.

"What does he want?" Xander groused.

"How can you tell it's him, compared to any other vamp?" Buffy wanted to know, sounding curious.

"Well, in this particular instance, it's because he's muttering under his breath." Jon admitted. "But he does have a scent unique to him."

"What's he saying?" Xander wanted to know.

"Mostly whining about having to come here and deal with you and I." Jon admitted, grinning at Xander. "For some odd reason, he's not a fan of ours."

Xander laughed. "That may have something to do with the fact that Jim tried to beat his ass three seconds after clapping eyes on him ... which gave the big liar a bit of a complex about Sentinels." Or so Xander hoped, anyway.

"Guys." Buffy said, sounding irritated.

"Sorry, Buffy, but ... yeah. Actually? Not sorry. I don't like him. At all. Wouldn't even if he was human. Which he isn't." Xander said. "I don't trust him as far as I can throw him, which isn't all that far."

At that point, there was a knock on the door leading to the yard, and Joyce went to answer it. "Yes, Angel? What is it?"

"May I come in? I need to talk to Buffy." Angel asked.

Joyce glanced over her shoulder at the others, and, after getting nods, let him in.

"What's up, Angel?" Buffy asked.

"I'm afraid I have bad news. It seems that the remnants of the vampire population are rallying under a new leader, someone named the Anointed One." Angel told her.

"Ok, someone is clearly compensating for something." Xander said. "Because seriously? Anointed One? Yeah, that's not ego stroking at all, is it?"

"Nope. Not at all." Jon agreed with a smirk. "So what's the deal with this guy. Well, I'm assuming it's a guy, anyway. Is it?"

"As best I can tell, yes. He's referred to in the masculine. I haven't met him ... he's being careful, and meeting with a Master Vampire of my age and strength, even with the soul, is something to be cautious about. I could do a lot of damage in a very short amount of time without even resorting to fighting him."

"How do you figure that?" Jon wanted to know.

"Just by treating him like he's a wayward Childe." Angel said. "Vampires ... tend to jump on perceived weakenesses, and if I were to treat this Anointed One like he was nothing special, it would weaken his position with the others, and open him to attack from his own forces."

"Huh. Good to know. Might be useful in the future." Jon said. "I'll start keeping an ear out for any talk about the guy, see what's going on."

Angel nodded and then got out of there after giving Buffy a lingering look, clearly not comfortable with hanging out in the same room as Jon. Xander did his best to not smirk, and failed rather spectacularly.

"I've said it before, Jon, but I'm going to say it again. I really like you ... just for your ability to send Angel running."


	19. Dusty Masters, Part 2

Dusty Masters, Part 2

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

September 12, Sunnydale

There was, Xander decided, as he leaned back against the basement wall, taking a breather from sparring practice, something both disconcerting and awesome as hell watching Jon teach Joyce how to kick ass and take names.

The two of them had been at it all week, and Xander now had proof as to where Buffy got her fierceness from, because Joyce was a force to be reckoned with. Xander almost wondered if she'd been a potential Slayer, when she was younger. It would explain a lot, if she had been.

Other than the standard patrols ... well, the now-standard patrols, as they'd developed definite routes that ensured all corners of the town were covered at some point within a week's time ... they'd continued to be busy, though this time it was placing and securing their weapon stashes around town, so that they had quick and easy access to weapons no matter where they were when trouble reared its ugly head.

More information on the Anointed One had come in, which had royally pissed off both Buffy and Xander. Evidently, it was the same creepy-ass child-vamp that had led Buffy into the Master's lair right before he damn near ripped her throat out. The little creep also evidently had a 'preacher' he worked with, though Xander sincerely doubted the man's credentials as a man of god if he was siding with a vamp of any description, much less this kid.

Aside from having taken leadership of most of the vampires in town, and moving their base of operations away from the Hellmouth to an abandoned factory, the little creep was, according to Jon, talking about the Master's return an awful lot. Which had put both Buffy and Xander in even worse moods.

"I say we get some high-grade acid, dig the bastard up, and melt his bones to nothing in a big-ass vat." Xander had growled when they found out about that. "Make it impossible for him to come back."

"They might not be talking about the same Master, Xander." Buffy had pointed out. "Could be another old vamp from somewhere who's coming in to run things."

Which, Xander'd had to admit, was a viable explanation. Still, he didn't like it. Not one bit.

Xander's train of thought got broken when Joyce let out a victorious laugh as she managed to perform a new move Jon'd been teaching her correctly without him guiding her. He grinned and shook his head.

"Xander! Call for you!" Willow called from the top of the stairs. Xander blinked, then grinned and hustled upstairs, suspecting who it would be. He grabbed the phone as soon as he got upstairs.

"Hello!"

"Hey Xander. Figured I'd call and see how things are down there." Jim said.

Xander grinned a little. "They're good. Angel's pouting, Joyce is learning how to kick ass and is more than a little terrifying. I think I figured out where Buffy got it from. Seriously. Joyce is more than a little awesome."

That got him a laugh from Jim. "So nothing much in the way of trouble?"

"Not really. At least, not yet." Xander told him. "There's some word doing the rounds about a Master returning ... but whether they mean the guy we dusted at the end of the school year or someone else, we haven't been able to figure out yet." Then he grinned hugely. "Oh, and, fair warning. Buffy's getting a bit of a crush on you."

There was a moment of startled silence from the other end of the line, making Xander's grin broaden even further. Then. "She's a weapon nut, I take it?"

Xander mock-pouted. "Yeah, just a bit. But then, I think everyone but Willow drooled a little when the truck got here. Jon even promised to teach us how to handle explosives, since you sent the grenade shells."

"Got plans for those, I take it?" Jim asked, sounding amused.

"Yeah. Jon's thinking holy water and garlic ... won't kill vamps, but it for damn sure will annoy and distract them, which is all to the good. And some fragmentation grenades, with stuff in them specifically for the sorts of demons that need to get hit with a certain metal or whatever to get dead. But doing all that's going to take a couple weeks, at least according to him, and I'll take his word on it. Oh, and by the way? You're officially the best father ever. That double-bladed axe you got me is sweet."

That got him another amused laugh. "Glad you like it." He said. "Jon been having any problems?"

"The first day of school was a bit rough, but we got that sorted." Xander told him. "Other than that, he's been fine."

"That's good. Sounds like he's adapting to it better than I have."

"Yeah, but his life was made of weird shit before, you know? Dealing with this would be easy compared." Xander said.

"Good point." Jim agreed. "He's had to learn to be flexible, at least to a point. Well, it's getting late, so I imagine you're going to be heading out soon. Talk to you again soon."

"Sure thing. Bye, Jim." Xander hung up once Jim had, and grinned.

It felt so weird ... but so good ... having a parental figure that gave a shit about him. That called to check up on him and make sure he was ok. He was quite sure that at some point, Jim would annoy him and Xander would wish he wasn't around ... given that Xander was a teenager, that was all but inevitable, but until then, Xander planned on thoroughly enjoying the novelty. Hell, he even had a mother of sorts in Joyce, who'd taken to being 'den mother' for the Scoobies with relish, tucking both Xander and Willow under her wings and fussing over them like she'd given birth to them in the last week.

Everyone gathered together and geared up in the basement. Xander grinned happily as he pulled on the leather harness that held the axe to his back, then grabbed the axe and petted the haft of it a bit. It truly was a beauty, three feet long, with two half-moon blades, each nearly a foot long and a bit less than that wide.

The haft was ash, wrapped with leather from base to tip. The section most usually grabbed was doubly wrapped with rubber, to provide a cushioned, slip-resistant grip. The blades gave the appearance of being older, as the metal was on the dark side and fairly matte, rather than the lighter, highly polished look new metal tends to have. Better still, much of the surface of the blades was marked with runes, which Giles had identified as ones for protection and sharpness. Whether or not the runes actually did any good was anyone's guess, but Xander definitely appreciated the thought ... and wondered where in the name of hell Jim had found it.

A KA-Bar and one of the tac vests, kitted out with small vials of holy water, garlic water, and a miniaturized first aid kit finished out Xander's preparations. Giles was toting a crossbow and a quiver full of arrows, while Jon had opted for a pair of KA-Bars and the single-bladed battle axe. Both men also had tac vests with the same items as Xander's, though Xander was fairly sure he'd seen Jon stashing a few additional items in his. Willow was carrying a second crossbow and quiver of arrows, as well as a KA-Bar and tac vest.

Buffy had a KA-Bar and three of the lighter knives, just in case. She also had a stake ... again, just in case. Jim and Jon had trained her out of depending on a stake, but she still kept one on hand as a backup. She alone wasn't wearing a tac vest, as it interfered in her ability to twist, turn, and generally make herself into a pretzel when she fought, and since she was the one that did the bulk of the up close and personal hand to hand fighting with the baddies, her being hampered was a bad idea.

Properly armed, they headed out. Today's patrol took them past where the Master's skeleton had been buried.

They got about halfway there when Jon stopped in his tracks, instinctively giving the military hand sign to freeze at the same time. Fortunately, Xander'd been keeping an eye on him, knowing he was listening for trouble as they walked, and put on the brakes when he did, which brought the others to a stop as well.

Xander put a hand on Jon's arm as an assist as Jon tipped his head, clearly concentrating on whatever he'd heard that had caught his attention. Jon was quiet for a few more moments then gave his head a shake and grimaced.

"Damn. We have a problem. Heard that whiny kid again. But he finally said something useful. Something about revivifying the Master, and digging him up. I think they're there right now."

"Oh, hell no." Buffy growled. "They are so not getting that bastard back to life. Xander ... just how fast can you get your hands on some high-grade acid?" She demanded.

Xander, despite the situation, couldn't quite suppress his amused snicker at her remembering that comment of his from a couple days ago. "Unfortunately, that's rather impractical. But I say we go dust these idiots before they get the Master dug up, and then we can do something about him once the pressure's off."

"That is definitely a plan." Jon agreed, then got moving again.

They'd gotten about halfway there when Jon froze again. This time, Xander didn't need his ears. Because even he could hear the faint sounds of agonized screams. "What the hell?"

"Not human." Jon said, grabbing Xander's sleeve when Xander started to take off. "I'm getting no heartbeats from the gravesite. Whoever's doing the screaming, they're a vampire."

Well, that cooled Xander's jets. But still. "Again, I say what the hell?"

"Let's find out."

They approached the Master's gravesite, which was in one of the cemeteries ... one of the older ones right next to a church, where the ground was consecrated. It had been their main defense against any funny business with the Master's skeleton, whether from outside agencies or the skeleton itself ... since none of them had any idea whether or not the bastard could regenerate himself, given enough time.

The place was just about literally crawling with vampires ... at least twenty of them, two on the gate alone Thankfully, they all seemed to be rather newly-risen, given the predominance of 'nice' clothes that people were generally buried in. But at the center of the chaos was the Anointed One, and another vampire, who evidently had enough status to just be standing around.

The minions, on the other hand, were digging the Master up. By hand. Which explained the screaming, and, now that they were closer, the pleas for mercy from some of them. Even as they watched, one of the poor bastards went up in dust, its body unable to handle the damage the consecrated earth was doing it. The effect was evidently strong enough to necessitate protection for the Anointed one and his main stooge, Xander noticed after a minute, as he spotted them both standing on what looked like a blanket, thus protected against the corrosive effect consecrated earth had on vampiric bodies.

Jon turned, and motioned Giles and Willow forward. With this many vampires, it'd be best to dust as many as they could from a distance before they went hand-to-hand. Buffy took the second crossbow from Willow and hunkered down beside Giles.

Just seconds before they started firing, Jon did the freezing thing again, then held up a hand to prevent them from firing.

"They know we're here. Or at least, the little bastard does." Jon whispered. "He just told his friend there that it was time for them to leave, before the Slayer and her friends started wreaking havoc."

That made them all frown for a moment, then Buffy shrugged. "We'll figure out how he knew later. Right now, let's get these guys and the skeleton."

There were nods, then Buffy and Giles hunkered down again and started shooting.

They got about six vampires between them before the rest of them figured out what was going on and where the bolts were coming from. Some of them bolted for the hills, but about half of the survivors started swarming their direction. Buffy tossed her crossbow back to Willow and pulled her knife, then raced to meet them.

Jon and Xander herded Willow, their weakest fighter, against a crypt and then bracketed her, axes in hand. Giles did his best to keep up with Buffy and guard her back in the melee. Jon and Xander didn't have much to do at first, as most of the vampires concentrated on the biggest apparent threat, namely Buffy.

But there were enough of them that they couldn't all get their licks in ... or try to ... so some of them did end up heading for Jon and Xander. Jon made very short work of any of them stupid enough to get in his range. Xander was pleased to discover that while he was nowhere near racking up Jon's body (dust?) count, he was doing way, way better than he had during the previous school year ... he didn't get grabbed and thrown even once. Even Willow got a couple of licks in, darting in to knife a vampire that was busy trying to fight off Jon and/or Xander.

Within a couple of minutes, there was only dust on the wind. Some seven or so vampires, not including the Anointed One and his stooge, had escaped them, however. Buffy was panting slightly as she wiped her brow.

"Ok, you know what? I'm sort of glad Jon and Jim were remorseless bastards this summer, because otherwise, that would have been a bitch." She said, then looked at Jon. "But so help me, if you tell Jim I said that, I'm going to tell Ms. Calendar you have a crush on her."

Jon sputtered and wrinkled his nose at her. "That's going a bit far, doncha think? We better get the bastard dug up and do something with him."

It didn't take them long to dig the Master back up ... the job had been half-done for them before they'd even got there. Jon kept a sharp ear out for any nonhuman reinforcements as they worked. Once they'd got the bones out of the grave, they wrapped them in a blanket and got out of there.

"So, what do we do with them?" Buffy wanted to know. "Since the acid idea is a no-go?"

"Well, if they need the bones ... I say we pound them to powder, drive out of town somewhere, and dump the powder in the ocean. They're not going to be able to do a damn thing, then." Jon proposed.

"That sounds like it would be the simplest solution, yes." Giles agreed.

"Oh, goodie. Mom even has a sledgehammer." Buffy said with an evil grin.

"Hey, mind if I get a lick or two in?" Xander asked. "I kind of have a few issues with the bastard."

"Be my guest. We can all take turns, for that matter." Buffy said.

Which is exactly what they ended up doing. Even Joyce took a couple swings ... ok, more than a couple ... getting her anger at the Master for damn near killing her daughter out of her system. The next morning, Giles took a brief drive out of Sunnydale and dumped the resultant fine powder into the ocean.


	20. Frankenstein, Part One

Frankenstein Part One

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. From here on, unless specifically stated, everything happens in Sunnydale.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

September 15

Xander nearly fell as he came down the stairs into the basement because he was looking over his shoulder with a rather bewildered expression. Jon, who was already in the basement warming up for patrol, laughed at him.

"Hey. No laughing!" Xander objected, mock-scowling at Jon. "Did you ... ?"

"Yeah, I heard." Jon said. "It's not that weird, Xander."

"Yes, actually, it is. And edging into a bit pathetic. I was hoping that by the time you get to that age, you stop being a nervous, twitchy geek when it comes to asking girls out."

"What age?" Buffy wanted to know. "And who's asking who out?"

"Giles' age. I accidentally overheard him rehearsing to ask Ms. Calendar on a date when I passed by the bathroom." Xander said.

Buffy's eyebrows went up. "Ok ... that's ... "

"Exactly!" Xander said, pointing at her. "That is exactly my point. It's wiggy with a side of weird!"

"We're going to have to tease him later." Buffy decided. "Maybe give him a few pointers." Then she gave herself a mental shake. "Where's Willow?"

"Changing into patrol clothes. She'll be down in a minute." Xander said. He headed over to the mats and started stretching, warming up prior to them heading out on patrol for the evening.

A minute later, both Willow and Giles descended into the basement. Xander somehow managed to not snicker at Giles, but he wasn't quite sure how. They both spent a few minutes stretching and warming up, and then everyone headed out.

About halfway through their patrol, a sour-faced Angel joined them, glaring at Xander and Jon. Xander gave Angel a wide, mock-innocent grin, completely unrepentant about Angel's increasing discomfort and dislike of himself and Jon.

The tail-end of their patrol brought them into one of the many cemeteries in town.

"Buffy and I will go this way." Angel said, motioning to one side.

"No. No you won't." Jon instantly refuted. "Splitting the team up in hostile territory is a very, very bad idea."

Especially when Angel was taking their most able fighter away from the group. There would come a time when splitting up wouldn't be as dangerous, but right now, when Xander and Willow had only a couple months of training under their belts wasn't it.

Buffy looked from Angel to Jon, then sighed. "Angel, we can talk after patrol's over, ok? They have a point."

Angel looked even more sour than before, but didn't push the issue. They started their sweep of the graveyard, Jon listening intently for any sign of movement. Xander walked close enough to him to bump shoulders every few steps or so. It allowed Xander to keep Jon from zoning without either of them having their movement restricted the way it would be if Xander had a hand on Jon's arm or shoulder.

Four vampires and about half the graveyard later, Buffy came perilously close to falling face-first into an open grave. Only Angel's lightning-fast reflexes saved her from the spill.

"Ok, that can't be good." Xander said, staring down. Because it was an open, used grave. That had been, relatively speaking, neatly dug up. The entire length of the casket was fully exposed, rather than there being a simple, torso-sized hole in the earth, which is what happened when newly turned vampires dug their way out of their graves.

"No, indeed it cannot." Giles agreed. "This is not the work of a rising vampire." He glanced around, clearly looking for something ... anything, really, to tell them what the heck had happened. "There are a number of other demons that feed on corpses or parts of corpses, however, so this could be their work."

"Jon?" Xander asked, glancing at him.

Jon frowned, and glanced around before giving his head a shake. "All I smell is humans, and decay." He admitted. "Nothing that stands out as 'not normal' ... but that's not saying much." He pointed. "There are some drag marks there, but they only go about fifteen feet or so. Just far enough to get the body well clear of the grave. Doesn't look like the body was moving under its own power, either. There's shoeprints to either side of the drag marks."

"Like someone was dragging the body out." Buffy said, and Jon nodded.

"Yeah, like I said. Not good. Not good at all." Xander groused.

"Shoeprints eliminates all but a handful of demons." Giles said. "Most demons can't even begin to fit into human clothing, even if they wanted to." He eyed the ground for a moment. "And the most likely suspect, at least here, would be vampires."

Angel shook his head. "Very unlikely to be a vampire's doing. Those that are turned are either left to their own devices or the body is brought to the vampire's lair after the blood exchange so the new vampire can rise in safety. Coming back to dig one out before they rise is only done by a Master when the turning process gets interrupted and they have to leave the body behind. The vast majority of the vampires in town aren't Masters. I'm actually the only one ... and perhaps the Anointed One, but I'm none too sure about that."

"Which leaves humans as the next most likely suspects." Giles said with a heavy sigh. "And the purposes to which a human with ill intentions can put a corpse ... well, needless to say, there are a number of possibilities. We're going to have to keep an eye out, and find out what's going on. Preferably before this gets out of hand. For now, we need to finish patrol."

"Right. Let's get a move on." Buffy said, eyeing the grave one last time. "Xander, you got some paper and a pen?"

"No, but I do." Willow said. "You want me to write down who it is, right? So we can see if there's anything in who this is to give us something to go on?"

"Yep." Buffy said. "Probably won't be, but it's worth a shot."

Willow nodded and pulled a small pad of post-its out of one of the pockets of her tac vest, along with a pen, and jotted down the information so they could do some research later.

About half an hour later, they'd finished their sweep of the cemetery, and their patrol for the night. As she'd promised, Buffy headed off with Angel so they could talk.

"Why am I not liking that?" Xander asked Jon.

"Because you don't like him." Jon pointed out.

"What she sees in him ... " Xander trailed off when Jon gave a full-body shudder.

"Ugh. I don't want to think about it." Jon said. "It gives a whole new meaning to ... certain words."

Xander, being a teenage boy, figured out what Jon was talking about pretty fast, and joined him in the full-body, horrified shudder. "Augh! You bastard! I'm going to get you for that. I did not need to be thinking about that!"

Giles gave them both a glare. "Gentlemen, a bit of decorum, if you please." He scolded.

"Translation: I don't need to think about that either." Xander mock-whispered to Jon, loud enough for Giles and Willow both to hear him.

Willow, not being a teenage boy, was a touch slower on the uptake, but she got it at that point, and her face screwed up. "Ewwww." She complained. "That is just ... ewwww."

Giles just took off his glasses and cleaned them. Xander was fairly sure he heard Giles muttering under his breath, but didn't ask Jon, mostly because he was pretty sure he didn't want to know what, exactly, Giles was muttering.

They headed back to the house, and Giles began rifling through some of the books, looking for the various uses dead bodies could be put to, whether by humans or the handful of demons who could wear human clothing. Willow headed upstairs to do some research on the dug-up body on the computer.

Xander glanced at Jon. "Well, it's not even midnight yet, and I for one am not at all tired. Want to spar or work on your senses for a bit?" He asked.

Jon nodded. "Sure. Bit of both?"

"Sounds good to me." Xander agreed. "Sparring first, since we're still warmed up from patrol?"

Jon nodded, and they both headed onto the mats.

They spent about fifteen minutes working on perfecting moves Xander already knew, before Jon introduced him to a new one. Five minutes into that, Buffy came storming into the basement, looking anything but happy.

"Do you two have to give Angel so much shit?" She asked, sounding very aggravated.

Jon and Xander looked at each other for a moment. "Yes." Came the flat answer from both of them.

"Well lay off a little, all right? He has useful information, and he's a good fighter, and we'll lose that if you two keep it up." Buffy grumped.

Jon and Xander shared another look, which said rather clearly 'who cares'. They didn't say it out loud, however. On the other hand, they didn't agree to go easy on Angel, either. Buffy, not being as stupid as she liked to pretend to be, picked up on that, huffed, and stormed upstairs, muttering under her breath about testosterone poisoned idiocy.

Another look between the two of them, and they went back to sparring. After about another fifteen minutes, they stopped and headed upstairs to clean up and then work on Jon's senses a bit.

The biggest part of Jon learning to use his senses was learning to identify what certain sounds and scents were. Having enhanced senses was more or less worthless if you had no idea what it was you were picking up, or couldn't tell the difference between a sound as heard on TV and one heard in real life.

Blair had been invaluable in getting them started on the process, and they'd made a good amount of headway while they'd been in Cascade, but it was an ongoing process. The process also served as practice in avoiding spikes and zones, so it served a dual purpose.

Tonight's plan was to go through Joyce's cupboard of cleaning products, to learn the differences in their smells, since Blair had only had Jim-friendly cleaning products in the Cascade apartment. Xander planned to drag Jon to the supermarket later, to sample the smells of every cleaner and laundry soap on offer.

Jim'd had to do something similar early on, and according to him, it had come in handy on more than one case. Jon wouldn't exactly be working police cases, but you never knew when knowing the difference in smell between two laundry soaps might come in handy. Xander had also talked to Giles about obtaining samples of skin and blood from the most common demons, so Jon would be able to clearly identify them, rather than having to attempt to describe what he was smelling in an attempt to identify what demon they were after.

September 16

Willow had found out a few things about their ... well, victim, Xander supposed. The girl was, to their surprise, the victim of an honest-to-goodness accident, rather than the 'accidents' that most demon-related deaths were attributed to. Evidently the car she and two of her friends were in crashed, and all three girls were killed. There was no immediate evidence of demonic activity as the cause of the crash, which was rather startling.

There was, in point of fact, nothing in what Willow found to provide a reason for her to be chosen to be dug up. It left the cause a mystery still, which none of them was fond of, but there wasn't anything they could do about it right then, because they had to get through the school day.

They dropped Willow off at the big announcement corkboard, so she could sign up for the science fair, as she did every year. Xander was actually half-tempted to join himself, or help Willow, just so he could do something wacky and throw people for a loop. In the end, he decided against it. He had enough on his plate dealing with the whole Sentinel/Guide thing, trying to get passing grades, and fighting demons. Xander managed to push the questions about the girl whose body had been dug up to the back of his mind.

BTVSBTVS

Cordelia muttered disgustedly as she exited the gym after cheerleading practice. Really, what did the girls expect? They were pathetic, and not even trying, and really, at this point Cordelia was almost convinced that Buffy could do better, which was saying something.

She was so busy with her mental commentary on the faults of the cheerleading team that it took her a minute to realize something was ... not right. But about halfway across the parking lot, she did finally take notice. What was wrong, she didn't know, but she was suddenly very uneasy, and staring around herself, looking for a threat she sensed but couldn't see.

Another few feet along, and her heart was hammering and there were goosebumps all up and down her arms. She had the distinct, disquieting feeling that she was being watched. Where from, considering there weren't all that many cars in the parking lot, and not much else to hide behind, she didn't know, but ... she was being watched.

Spooked, she took off at a tangent away from her car, reasoning that if someone was following her, they might know what her car looked like and be lying in wait near it for her. Unfortunately, the sensation of being watched didn't receed, and before she quite knew what she was doing, she was running flat-out, instinctively trying to flee from the danger she still couldn't see.

She skidded around the corner and glanced around for a likely hiding place. The only option open to her was a dumpster. Grimacing in distaste at the necessity, she nevertheless climbed in and tried to quiet her breathing.

After about five minutes, the sensation of being watched faded, and Cordelia started to climb out.

Only to come face to face with Angel.

She screamed at the top of her lungs and took a wild swing at him in her startlement, then took another swing a few moments later when the fear turned to anger.

"You bastard! Was that you following me? Are you really that pathetic that you have to resort to stalking people?" She yelled.

"Cordelia. Come out of the dumpster." Angel said, offering her a hand.

Cordelia blinked at him. There was something ... odd ... about the tone of his voice. After a second she shrugged it off, and accepted the hand.

Unfortunately, in the process of climbing out ... she looked down.

The dumpster was half-full of human body parts.

Cordelia began to scream and flail in earnest.


	21. Frankenstein Part Two

Frankenstein Part Two

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

September 16

As had become the norm, everyone was in the basement warming up prior to heading out on patrol when Jon's head snapped up, and he leveled a lethal glare at the door leading to the side yard.

"Angel's coming." Jon half-growled. "And he's got someone with him who is very, very not happy to be there. Their heartrate's through the roof and I can hear muffled attempts at yelling."

It really didn't help Angel's case that it sounded like he was kicking the door when he got close enough to it to knock. Giles, who happened to be closest, opened the door.

"Angel. Might I inquire as to why you have a blood-smeared Cordelia Chase pinned in your grasp?" Giles asked.

Xander exchanged a look with Jon, because there had been an edge to Giles' voice that Xander had never heard before. Something hard and ... dangerous. Which really didn't fit with the Giles Xander knew.

"Just let me in. It's not what it looks like." Angel groused. "She's flipping out for a damn good reason that has nothing to do with me."

Giles quit blocking his way, and then Xander could see what both Jon and Giles had meant. Cordelia's clothes were smeared with blood from the knees down, and she was wild-eyed and visibly shaking in Angel's grasp. Amusingly, it looked like she'd tried to bite Angel at least once, if the red teeth marks on his hand were any indication. She was also still trying to yell.

Joyce, who'd joined them during their warmup, was the first to get moving. "Buffy, be a dear and run upstairs, grab some of my clothes. They'll come the closest to fitting. I dare say Cordelia wants no part of what she's got on at the moment." She said.

"Right!" Buffy said, and hurried up the stairs.

In the meantime, Joyce pulled Cordelia from Angel. Cordelia took the opportunity to take a swing at Angel, but between his reflexes and the fact she was shaking so hard she could barely keep her feet, she missed by a mile. At that point, Joyce gently steered her towards the shower that had been installed for messy slay events.

"I think you might feel a bit better getting out of those." Joyce told Cordelia. It was a measure of how freaked out Cordelia was that she didn't even attempt to argue.

"So what the hell happened?" Xander wanted to know, once the two of them were out of sight in the shower area.

"I was patrolling solo." Angel said. "And picked up on the smell of rotting human bodies. So I started tracking it. Followed it to a dumpster near the school. She was in it. Why, I have no idea. She also had no idea what she was standing in, because she didn't start screaming and flailing until she looked down while getting out."

"And what was she standing in?" Giles asked, sounding like he dreaded the answer. Not that Xander blamed him.

"Human body parts. The dumpster was half full of them."

"Oh, that's great." Jon said, voice heavy with sarcasm.

"Anyway, I couldn't get her to calm down, so I brought her here." Angel said.

"Yeah, I don't think being manhandled by a vampire would have been very comforting to her." Xander muttered.

For a moment, Xander wondered if Angel was going to hit him, he was leveling such a lethal glare. "I'll head back to the dumpster. See what I can find out." Angel said at length, then swept out, closing the door behind him.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Xander."

Xander grimaced. "Sorry. I actually didn't mean it quite the way he took it." He said. And while, yes, he took pleasure in kicking Angel's shins, he'd not really been meaning to, that time. He'd just meant that after realizing she'd been standing in a bin of body parts, having to deal with something that ... well, wasn't quite alive, at least not in the traditional sense, couldn't have helped matters. Joyce came back into the main part of the basement about then. "How's she doing?" Xander asked.

Joyce sighed. "She's very shaken." She said. "Not that I blame her. I'd be freaking out more than a little bit too."

"No kidding." Jon said, wrinkling his nose in disgust.

Cordelia came out of the shower area about fifteen minutes later, dressed in some of Joyce's clothes. She was still shaking and looking very nervous, but she had calmed down a little bit.

"What happened, Queen C?" Xander asked, hoping that getting her focused on him, with her tendency to snark at him, might help.

Sure enough, Cordelia gave him a glare. "I was heading for my car after practice, which, those girls are stupid and incompetent. I mean, really. Half of them can't manage a proper cartwheel, nevermind something as complex as doing them together." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I was heading for my car, when I got to feeling like I was being watched, or followed or something. There wasn't exactly a lot of cover in the parking lot, so I figured whoever it was was near my car and took off in another direction."

Not a bad line of thinking, Xander admitted.

"Whoever it was ... well, the feeling refused to go away. So I ended up ... " She swallowed hard and gave a convulsive shudder. "Well, I ended up where I ended up. When the feeling finally went away, I started to climb out, except he." Cordy waved a hand, indicating the door and the departed Angel. "Was there. I ended up hitting him a few times before he told me to get out." Another convulsive shudder, and this time Cordelia didn't continue. Not that it mattered, really, since they'd gotten what had happened at that point from Angel.

It took another half hour for Cordelia to calm down completely, and about the time she did, she collapsed into sleep, having obviously worn herself out. Shortly after that, Angel returned, looking very grim.

"All the body parts were female." He said. "And dead anywhere from a day to a week before they got in the dumpster."

"The grave the other night." Buffy said. "The girl that got dug up."

Angel nodded. "I have no way of knowing if she was in there, but ... someone is digging up freshly dead females and cutting them apart. Neatly. All the sections were almost surgically precise. Definitely not the work of a demon. They just bite, claw or yank."

"But why?" Buffy wanted to know. "That's what makes no sense. Why would they be digging up girls and cutting them into chunks?"

"And does it have anything to do with Cordelia getting stalked?" Xander wanted to know. "And if so, why?"

Suddenly, Willow sat straight up. "Wait. Wait a second. Remember when you guys dropped me off at the message board?" She asked. "I signed up, and Chris and his friend were there. I got to talking to Chris for a bit, and while I was doing that, Eric had a camera with him, and was taking pictures. But he's not on the yearbook committee, or the newspaper committee, and if I remember right, it was mostly girls he took pictures of. Even me."

Everyone exchanged looks. "Ok, so ... we at least have something to start with." Jon said. "Even if it proves to be nothing. I vote we go check the school. They might have left some sort of evidence to what they're up to there."

"That sounds like a wise decision." Giles agreed. "We had best get going."

It didn't take the group long to get to the school. Almost immediately, Jon, who'd dialed up his sense of smell, wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Dead bodies." He said. "They definitely left something hanging around."

It didn't take them long to track it down. There was a handful of body parts in Chris' friend's locker ... fingers and toes, part of a wrist and ankle. All, evidently, discards yet to be gotten rid of, as they showed considerable signs of decay. Chris' locker had medical-school level texts on the nervous system and various other body systems, as well as detailed diagrams and pictures of a body mid-surgery for various surgeries. They also found a neat folder of pictures of a number of girls, along with a number of obituaries, again all for girls.

"Ok, is this creeping anyone else right the hell out?" Buffy demanded, staring at their finds in horror.

Xander raised a hand, as did Willow. Giles and Jon didn't, but they both looked like they agreed with Buffy wholeheartedly despite that.

"It sort of looks like they're going all Frankenstein's Bride on us." Xander offered. "Building a girl from dead parts, I mean."

That got him more than one look that said 'you geek', but then Buffy got a thoughtful look on her face. "Wait ... what if that's what they're doing? I mean, c'mon, it's not like weird shit doesn't happen around here. Maybe they watched the movie and decided it could be done in real life."

Xander looked very unhappy after a minute. "If they are ... the brain is going to have to be ... fresh."

Willow got it. "Cordelia!" She yelped. "They want her for the brain."

Jon whipped out his cellphone and hit the speed dial. A few moments later, Joyce must have answered. "Joyce, lock the house down. Someone's after Cordelia. We'll be back as fast as we can." He shut his cellphone and looked at the others. "We need to shut this down, fast. Where would they be doing this, if we're right?"

"They'd need somewhere with access to high voltage electricity." Xander said. "Higher than normal. Which really doesn't help narrow it down too much. Factories, the military base ... they'd all have access to that sort of electricity output."

"That sort of electricity, but no reason for dead-body smell." Jon pointed out. "We'll check it out tomorrow. right now, we need to get back and keep an eye on Cordelia. They may try for her again yet tonight, depending on how desperate they are."

Xander wasn't about to disagree with that, and neither did anyone else, not even Angel. They all headed back home. At the edge of the property, Jon tensed up, eyes narrowing to slits.

"They've been here." He said. "Been and left. Watched for a bit, I think. Hard to tell. Might've been casing the house to try to break in later."

"Yeah. Not happening." Xander said, glaring into the darkness. "Let's get inside and make sure they're both all right."

"I'll patrol the block, make sure they don't sneak back." Angel said, veering off into the darkness.

Xander gave a purely mental snort. Like he was going to trust Angel to watch their backs? Hah. Evidently, Jon agreed with him wholeheartedly, as he started prowling the entire house as soon as he got inside, poking his nose into every crevice and cranny as if Chris and Eric could hide from him, despite his senses.

Once he'd done a prowl and reassured himself no one was in the house that shouldn't be, he opened all the downstairs doors (inside the house, of course) and grabbed a chair from the kitchen. He set the chair in the hallway next to the stairs, where he'd be able to reach any given room in any of the three floors within seconds. He'd also produced a gun from ... well, Xander wasn't entirely sure where, but Jon had it resting in his lap, with a crossbow and some bolts resting against the wall beside him in case something nonhuman came through.

He was clearly setting up to keep watch all night. Xander rolled his eyes and settled down on the floor next to Jon, which got him a look.

"What're you ... " Jon started.

"Keeping watch with you. You really think you can keep your senses going all night without having a problem?" Xander challenged him. "And even if you could, I know you're really a big, bad soldier but staying awake all night's easier when you've got company."

Jon glared for a moment, then huffed, admitting defeat.

Xander was woken the next morning by a camera flash, and several female voices cooing rather ostentatiously. He jerked into a more upright position, blinking blearily at a camera-wielding Joyce, Willow, and an openly laughing Cordelia. "Wha?"

Jon was looking down at him with nearly as much amusement as Cordelia. "You fell asleep a couple hours ago." He said.

And had, given where he was sitting, evidently ended up with his head in Jon's lap, which would explain the cooing and laughing. He tried to summon a glower, but from their expressions, it really didn't work. "Fine, fine, whatever. School. Let's go." He clambered to his feet. "Sorry about that, Jon."

"Not the first time something like that's happened. Lost track of the number of times Sam ... " Jon started, then grimaced, glared at the wall, and defiantly completed the thought. " ... and Daniel ended up falling asleep on me."

Xander reached over and gripped his shoulder. He couldn't begin to figure out how the hell Jon dealt with it ... having the memories of a lifetime, but not having that life, and having absolutely no chance of ever having that life.

Jon shook it off after a moment. "Right. School. Then finding where those idiots are building their Bride, and shutting them down."

"Definitely a plan." Willow agreed.

The school day was, mercifully, trouble-free, though Xander noticed that Chris and Eric both seemed ... twitchy, as if they knew they'd been found out, despite the fact the Scoobies hadn't actually removed anything from either locker, for fear of them realizing the jig was up and either moving everything or jumping the first available girl, rather than the one they preferred for the brain.

There was some fun to be had, though, because Buffy reported after lunch that Ms. Calendar had made all Giles' hemming and hawing useless, inviting him out on a date that evening. Giles had, evidently, been a bit gobsmacked for a minute before he accepted. Xander resolved to give Giles a hard time later. It was too good an opportunity to miss. He also made a mental note to do what they could to not drag Giles out of his date.

Jon and Xander headed out immediately after school, trying to find where the boys were putting the body together at. It wasn't until two hours after dark ... and a chance run by the school ... that they finally caught a break. Because one of the two boys ... Jon didn't catch more than the briefest glimpse before they disappeared, so he wasn't sure which one it was ... headed into the old science building, and Jon caught a whiff of decayed body smell.

Jon immediately called Buffy, who was doing patrol with Angel, and Willow, who was at the house with Joyce and a still-shaken Cordelia, who had been entirely too willing to take refuge at the Summers House until the whole mess was dealt with.

Once everyone arrived, they snuck into the building and poked around until they found access to an evidently long-forgotten basement area under the building.

Despite suspecting the two boys of trying for a Frankenstein's Bride, they weren't quite prepared for what they found down there. The place looked like someone had deliberately tried to recreate as much of the lab from the movie as was humanly possible in real life. Complete with the cobbled-together generator and the table with the covered body.

Complete, in point of fact, they found out a few seconds later, with Frankenstein himself, as someone shuffled out of the darkest corner of the basement, revealing themself to be ... well ... stitched together quite a bit.

"My kingdom for a flamethrower." Xander snarked.

"Incendiary grenade good enough?" Jon asked.

Xander glanced at him. "I think I love you." He said.

"I think I had best leave before you set that off." Angel noted. Vampires and fire didn't mix well.

At that point Chris and Eric appeared from some corner or other, and the fight was on.

They were all somewhat hampered by the fairly close quarters and prevalence of very breakable ... stuff ... but eventually, Eric and Chris were both unconscious and shoved towards the stairs to the upper floor. Angel, who had retreated so as not to be in danger from the fire Jon planned to set off, as well as a lack of room for more fighters, pulled the two boys up the stairs and out of the way.

The Frankenstein ... was proving to be a bit more problematic. Buffy had concentrated on it, but it didn't seem to feel pain ... one of its arms was clearly broken but it was still trying to kick her ass as if it wasn't.

With the two boys clear, Jon herded Willow and Xander up the stairs. "Buffy! Pull back. Gonna blow the place!"

Buffy nodded, grabbed the nearest sturdy piece of furniture (a stool, as it happened) and swung for the fences, connecting hard with the Frankenstein, sending it, at least temporarily, ass over teakettle. Long enough for her to head for the generator and start yanking cords and pushing buttons until the thing started to spark and whine, at which point she raced for the stairs. Jon chucked an incendiary grenade into the room by the generator just to be sure, and then hurried after her, urging everyone out and away from the building.

The resultant explosion and fire was ... rather spectacular. When the dust finally settled and all was quiet again for a while, Jon grinned. "No sound of movement. We got it." Then he swung to look at the two boys. "You two." He half-growled. "Are in such deep shit."


	22. Spike and Dru, Part 1

Spike and Dru Part 1

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

September 29

Buffy stared at Principal Snyder, one eyebrow raised, then looked over at Sheila before giving a mental snort. Wait until her mother heard about this one. Snyder would never know what hit him. Trying to expel her if she does a bad job decorating for something ... yeah. She totally wanted to be there when her mother read this idiot the riot act. It would be a thing of beauty.

She walked out without saying anything, not willing to give the troll his jollies by acting at all concerned. Sheila didn't look worried either, but Buffy had a feeling it was for a different reason. Ah well.

The troll's bullying aside, Buffy did plan to decorate. Because Xander was going to have a parent here for parent-teacher night for the first time ever. Jim had called yesterday, the meeting had come up, and Jim had promptly arranged for a long weekend to come hang out.

Buffy fought down a grin. Xander had been ... a lot happier, the last few months. It was good to see on him. She hadn't known him anywhere near as long as Willow had, but she'd been aware that he hadn't been a happy camper last year, and for more reasons than the death of Jessie. Between Jim and Jon, Xander was ... well, as happy and content as someone living on a hellmouth could be, really.

Speaking of, Xander bounced up to her as she headed for her first class.

"So, what did the troll want?" Xander asked.

"To get his ass kicked by my mom." Buffy told him. "He threatened to expel me if I did a shitty job decorating for parent-teacher night."

Xander stopped in his tracks and stared at her for a moment, mouth half-open. "You're kidding me."

"Nope."

"Your mother is going to crucify him." Xander said firmly, then grinned. "Can I come watch?"

Buffy snickered. "Hopefully so, but I dunno. If everyone comes to watch that will want to, there will be quite an audience."

"Good point." Xander said with his own snicker.

Jon loped up at that point. "So, Snyder's put his name in for an ass-kicking. Too bad Jim won't be here until Thursday. They could tag-team him."

Buffy and Xander both laughed at that. "Oh, that would be evil." Xander pointed out. "I mean, Joyce is going to be bad enough. If we added Jim into it we'd need ... " He stopped, thought about what he'd been about to say, then grinned at Jon. "Damn, you're right. It is too bad they can't tag team him." He said. "We'd have a new principal then."

The rest of the day was sadly devoid of anything interesting outside of schoolwork. Once informed of Snyder's demands, Willow had been as amused as the others had been. Once the day was done they all trooped home.

Xander was still adjusting to having adults that gave a damn about him around all the time, so he had a big grin on his face when they walked into the house and got greeted by Joyce. Even Jon got a brief hug, much to his (continued, this was hardly a new phenomenon) chagrin.

"Mom, you are never going to believe what the troll tried to do today." Buffy said as they trooped into the kitchen to unpack their bookbags and finish whatever homework they'd not been able to do while at school. "He pulled me and Sheila into the office and threatened to expel whichever one of us did a crappier job at decorating for parent-teacher night."

Joyce's eyebrows hit her hairline. "Oh really now. I shall have to have a few words with that man." She shot a look at them all when they all started to snicker. "What has you so amused?" She wanted to know.

"Just anticipating you stomping a mudhole in the troll." Xander said. "We've been snickering about it on and off all day." He frowned at the homework in front of him. "I hate social studies." He groused.

Joyce gave Xander an amused look. "Oh really?"

Xander grinned at her. "It's a compliment, really. You're kind of on the fierce side." He pointed out. "You sort of looked like you wanted to take a sword or something to everything in sight that time we took you on patrol with us."

"He's got a point, mom." Buffy pointed out, grinning.

Joyce shook her head at their antics. "Well, your principal will be finding out if you're right about me or not tomorrow morning." She told them. "I'll not have any of this expelling you for specious reasons. If you earn it, that's one thing, but not decorating good enough is not an expellable offense."

BTVSBTVSBTVS

Spike smirked as he ran down the welcome sign for Sunnydale.

Ahhh, the hellmouth. He could practically taste the evil the thing poured out, could feel it tugging at his demon, encouraging it to be more vicious, more violent. Not that he, of all vampires, needed much help with that.

He glanced over his shoulder at the back seat, grateful that Dru had fallen asleep. She'd been driving him barmier than usual the last few months with her jabber about Miss Edith and the stars, Sunnydale and the Grand Pouf. A couple of times, it'd been all he could do to keep her from racing out into broad daylight in her efforts to go save her 'daddy'. Other times, it'd taken every ounce of connivery he possessed to draw her out of whatever corner she'd jammed herself into, gibbering in terror.

Whatever was going on in Sunnydale, it was big. Dru might be nuttier than a fruitcake, which made her visions unreliable, but Spike had long since learned to listen when she babbled about the same thing consistently. She might not have the details right, but if she was seeing something again and again, it was something that needed worrying about.

It had all culminated in that mess in Prague. Now, Dru was in bad shape, and the Hellmouth was really her only hope. So he'd given in and got them moving towards Sunnydale. It'd helped that he'd heard rumor the newest Slayer was there. He'd been getting bored with the usual hunts, lately. It was about time for him to test his mettle against a Slayer again.

Spike drove until he found a warehouse he liked the looks of, and pulled the DeSoto inside. That done, he slipped out to go get the lay of the land. Dru'd be safe enough where she was for now.

He beat up (and dusted) a couple minions to get a bit of information, among which was that the Master was dead and, if not fully dusted, then definitely unavailable for resurrection by any means. Which had, evidently, been attempted by his successor, called the Anointed One. The lair had also been moved from its old place to a warehouse.

Spike found the warehouse and slipped inside, crouching in the rafters, watching the assembled vampires and snorting in disgust. The Anointed One? What a crock of shit. Was nothing but a kid, playing at being a Master and making the mindless dregs bow to him.

He actually laughed out loud when they started talking about challenging the Slayer on St. Vigeous, and dropped from the rafters, landing neatly and then prowling around the group.

"You lot are pathetic." He fairly laughed. "Prayin' ta a dusted vamp for strength enough ta challenge a Slayer."

The Anointed One gave him a look that Spike suspected was supposed to be angry and challenging, but with a child's face came across as petulant. "And who might you be, to barge in here and mock your betters?"

Spike laughed again. "I'd be Spike, mate. Also known as William the Bloody, one of the Scourge, and slayer of Slayers." He smirked at the lot of them, daring one of them to be dumb enough to try to jump him. "Ain't needed to pray to a dead vamp yet ta have what it takes ta take down a Slayer. You lot want the bint out of the way, I can get it done."

Spike could literally see the power in the room shifting as the minions around the miniature wanker responded to his complete lack of concern about both the kid and the Slayer. New-risen minions tended to do that, gravitating towards the most powerful vampire in their vicinity. Better yet, the baby wanker knew it too ... and couldn't do a damn thing about it evidently.

Oh, Spike imagined the kid might've been something ... in about fifty or sixty years. There was an edge of 'something different' to him that Spike couldn't place. Unfortunately, the kid was damn near as newly risen as the minions bowing to him, and whatever ability he might have was clearly not fully developed yet, or he'd be using it. He gave a contemptuous snort and whirled, his duster flaring out behind him as he stalked out.

Now to find the Slayer and get a good look at how she fought.

A half an hour later, he'd tracked her down ... and discovered why Dru'd been frothing so badly. This Slayer wasn't working alone.

"Watchers must love that." He muttered, watching the group. The sight of his sire slouching along with them, looking miserably unhappy, made him want to laugh and snarl at the same time. So this is what Angelus had been reduced to ... tagalong helper to a Slayer. Pathetic.

He followed them, keeping to the rooftops, as they patrolled around town. The news wasn't good. Not only did this Slayer travel in a pack ... both she and the pack were better trained and equipped than the norm. The others with her (minus Angel) were all wearing military gear, boots and vests, and the vests had all sorts of goodies in the pockets from what he saw them use as they patrolled. There were two crossbows and enough arrows to make even him twitchy, as well as a couple of axes that he saw being put to use.

The Slayer herself fought with a focused brutality and economy, wasting very little energy and movement in the effort to kill whatever demons they came across. Spike hadn't seen the like since the Chinese Slayer. Yet it was clear that she wasn't a brainwashed automaton, either. She laughed and joked and seemed to be quite comfortable with her helpers.

The helpers were ... odd ducks. The redhead that tended to stay at the center of the group was clearly the weakest link, but she was close-guarded. The tow-headed teenager confused him. The kid moved and acted like a combat vet, but there was no way in hell a teenager could possibly be one. The dark-haired kid was a bouncy goof between attacks, but once a demon popped up, he was nearly as focused as the Slayer, though nowhere near as deadly. Yet. Spike had a feeling that given a year or two, the kid would be as close to a Slayer's equal as humanly possible, like his tow-headed friend.

"What the hell have you got yourself into, Angel?" Spike asked aloud.

It was just as well he was watching them so closely, or he'dve missed what happened next. The tow-head said something, and in the space of about two seconds, one of the crossbows was in the Slayer's hands and an arrow was slamming into the brick wall at his feet, missing his leg by less than an inch. Spike cursed and scrambled for cover, even as two more arrows sang through the air, both narrowly missing him. Only when he'd gotten several walls between himself and the Slayer did he stop to gather his wits.

What the bloody hell?

BTVSBTVSBTVS

"Damn, we missed." Jon whined. "Bastard moved fast, I'll give him that."

"Hopefully he'll decide Sunnydale's too much bother and go away." Buffy said.

"And if he doesn't, he's going to be ridiculously easy to spot and track, with that neon white hair." Jon said with a snort.

That comment made Angel stiffen. "Neon white hair?" He asked.

Jon eyed him. "Yeah. And he seemed to know you. Called you by name."

"Damnit." Angel cursed, then sighed. "I think I know who it is. Not entirely sure, but there's a high probability."

"And who would he be, then?" Xander asked, finally chiming in.

"Spike. He's dangerous. Has killed two slayers, and he's only a little over a century old. The first one he killed when he'd been turned for only twenty years, and it wasn't by accident or thanks to getting to her after she'd been worked over by bigger, nastier oppenents. He deliberately hunted and challenged her when she was well rested."

That news made them all cringe a little. "So he's a good fighter, then?" Willow asked.

"One of the best. There aren't too many vampires out there who can challenge him ... and most of the ones who can are a good fifty years or more older than he is." Angel said, looking rather sour at having to admit it.

"And you know all this ... how?" Xander demanded.

"He's my Childe." Angel admitted. "I haven't seen him since the second world war, though, and even then only briefly."

The Scoobies traded looks before Buffy stepped in. "Well, we can't get mad at you for not telling us about someone you didn't even know if they were still around." She said.

"You need to be careful. There can really be only one reason why he's here." Angel pointed out.

That made both Xander and Jon make amused noises. "Let him try. He's going to get a few surprises." Xander said. "Buffy's got way more backup than most Slayers ever did."

"I'll try to figure out what he's up to." Angel said. "With some luck, I can head him off."

Xander shot Jon a look, and Jon returned it, a look that said 'yeah, we're really going to depend on you to drive him off. Not'. "Whatever. Just make sure he understands he'll be dust if he crosses us." Jon growled.

Angel made another face before he headed into the darkness to track his wayward childe down.


	23. Spike and Dru, Part 2

Spike and Dru Part 2

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. To clarify: Dru bit and drained Spike, but was unable to teach him to be a vampire. Angelus did that. As a result, Angel and Spike consider each other Sire and Childe.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

September 29

Spike hustled it back to the warehouse, worried that the Slayer had found the place. He breathed a mental sigh of relief when he found Dru right where he'd put her, unharmed.

This, he reflected, was going to be a hell of a challenge. He'd have to account not only for the Slayer's skills, but that of her cohort. Which meant figuring out how in the name of hell they'd heard him. He'd been entirely too far away for a Slayer to hear him ... he'd made damn sure of that. He supposed the tow-headed teen might be part-demon. There were quite a few who could interbreed with humans, and demons generally had much better senses than even a Slayer did.

That answer, however, opened up an entirely new can of questions. As did his sire's presence in the hunting party. What in the name of hell was a Slayer doing trusting a demon ... any demon ... at her back? Much less his wanker of a sire. The long and the short of it was that Spike needed information before he tried anything.

Time to arrange for some intensive scouting. But this time, he was going to make a minion do it. If Angel had warned them about him, they'd be expecting him to do his own scouting, and having someone else do it would throw them off the scent.

Were Spike any other vampire, that would have meant sending a minion to stalk the Slayer barehanded. But Spike, unlike most vampires, did not underestimate or harbor total disdain for humans. He was well aware that there were pure humans who could hold off or even dust a vampire without massive amounts of trouble. And not all of those humans were in the military. Humans, he knew, were clever blighters who compensated for their lack of strength, natural armor and weapons with an clever, inventive streak that allowed them to build technology and fighting techniques that evened the odds considerably.

And unlike the vast majority of vampires, Spike had made a point of learning to operate the technology that humans invented during his unlife. Vampires had an unfortunate tendency to stick to the fashions and technology of the era they were turned in. It tended to make them stick out like sore thumbs within a few years. Spike, on the other hand, had adapted with the times. It had contributed greatly to his continued survival, because he didn't stick out quite as obviously.

Spike reassured himself one last time that Dru was all right and settled, then headed out to the nearest electronics store. He needed a camcorder, tape, and some batteries. And a young, newly turned geek minion that would know how to work the thing.

Luck was with him. Obtaining the equipment he needed was painfully easy, of course, but he ran into a small knot of minions after he'd left, one of whom was the sort of pimply-faced teenager he associated with being a tech geek of some stripe. And they'd been turned very recently ... within the last six months or so, if he was any judge.

Like most of the minions he'd run into, the kid had the reek of the Aurelius clan on him, though Spike could tell he hadn't been turned by any of the clan Masters, but by a fellow Aurelius minion. It'd been as easy as draining a baby to get the minion to do what he wanted. If the minion survived stalking the Slayer the rest of the night, he'd consider learning, nevermind remembering, the kid's name. Until then, Spike headed back to the warehouse, snagging a couple of unwary town residents for his and Dru's dinner as he went. Provided she would eat. It had been surprisingly difficult to get her to do so since she'd fallen ill.

BTVSBTVSBTVS

Angel's intentions to hunt Spike down, kick his ass and throw him out of town were completely thwarted. Mostly because he was operating with very out of date information on how Spike did things. The last time he'd spent more than a day in Spike's company had been back in the forties, after all.

But Angel had made a mistake common to most vampires, in that he assumed that Spike hadn't really changed much. Most vampires didn't, after all. Even he hadn't, despite the soul. It was as well he didn't find Spike, as Angel hadn't done much fighting in the last hundred years. A confrontation between himself and Spike would not have gone the way Angel assumed it would.

The (temporarily) nameless minion did as Spike had bid him and filmed the Scooby crew patrolling for about an hour before they returned to the Summers house. Having been warned by Spike to keep his distance and silence, the minion managed to survive tracking them, and found his way to the warehouse Spike had appropriated for himself and Dru.

Spike watched the hour of tape, and didn't see any massive changes in how the group had handled things when he'd been watching. Somewhat reluctantly, he admitted, if only to himself, that the pathetic wankers following the so-called Anointed One might have had the right idea, waiting for St. Vigeous to do anything. At the very least, it'd give him a couple days of watching the group to figure out a plan.

September 30

There was more than a small amount of anticipation as Buffy, Jon, Willow, and Xander got ready for school that morning. The grimly determined look on Joyce's face, and the knowledge she was going to pin Snyder to the floor was probably responsible for that. Ok, not probably. Definitely.

Joyce drove them to school that morning, and headed straight for Snyder's office. The four teens followed her at a slight distance, trying to look like they weren't following her and mostly failing at it. They did, however, time their arrival such that the door to Snyder's office had closed, with him and Joyce on the other side, allowing the four teens to eavesdrop without being too blatantly obvious about it.

"Principal Snyder." Joyce said, sounding calm and at ease. "You and I have some things we need to discuss."

"You're moving, and taking that menace of yours with you?" Snyder asked.

Joyce gave the balding man a smile that was more teeth and aggression than anything else. "Quite the contrary, Principle Snyder. I am here to inform you that you will cease and desist all attempts at bullying my daughter, or trying to expel her for specious reasons. If you do not, I will be reporting you directly to the California Board of Education, and ensuring that you are not only fired from your post here, but are unable to find employ anywhere in the United States as an educator of any description."

She leaned over the desk a little, tapping its surface with one fingernail. "Do not test me, Principal Snyder. You will not like the outcome. And lest you think you have free reign to turn your odious attentions to my daughter's friends, I remind you that Willow's parents are respected child psychologists, and Xander's father is a well-respected ex-Army Ranger and current police officer. Between us, we can make your life ... very difficult."

Even if Willow's parents were liable to not get in on the fun, as they mostly seemed to ignore her, which annoyed Joyce to no end. Jim, at least, would stomp a mudhole in this idiot for messing with Xander. And Jon ... well, he didn't precisely have parents, but Joyce sincerely pitied anyone that drew the attention of Jack O'Neill and his friends, from what she'd heard of them.

Joyce didn't give Snyder a chance to respond. She simply turned and walked out of his office, only to laugh when she nearly ran down the four teens in her charge.

"All right, you lot. Class will begin shortly. You need to get a move on." She pointed out.

The four teens grinned shamelessly at her before they scattered to get to their first classes of the day, snickering just audibly as they went. Joyce shook her head in amusement and headed for her car.

BTVSBTVSBTVS

That evening, the gang got together just after dusk as had become their norm.

"Any luck finding Spike?" Xander asked Angel.

"Unfortunately, no." Angel sighed. "He's probably actively trying to hide from me, which will complicate me finding him."

"Well, I was able to find a bit more information on him in the Watcher's diaries." Giles spoke up. "Since you don't know what he's been up to for the most part." He glanced at the four teens. "We must be exceedingly cautious of Spike. He is ... quite dangerous."

"Yeah, Deadboy said that last night." Jon said. "But dangerous how?"

"He ... seems to be rather unusual, as vampires go. Vampires, for the most part, do not change much over time. They stick with technology, fashions, and the like from the general time when they were turned, give or take a decade or so. Spike is ... far more adaptable than the norm for a vampire. He has been seen using technology that simply didn't exist when he was turned with ease, has changed the style of clothes he wears several times, though he does seem to have settled on his current look roughly twenty or so years ago and not changed it much since. He is very accomplished when it comes to psychological warfare and torture, as I found several mentions of him, I believe the popular phrase now is 'psyching out' an opponent." Giles said. "And other mentions of him forcing information out of beings in various ways via torture. In fact, the only thing that seems to be consistent with him is the fact that when he tortures someone, he kills them by driving railroad spikes through their eyes and into their brains, which is evidently where he got his name from."

That made all four of them grimace and/or flinch. "So clever, capable, and ruthless as hell." Jon summarized. "Otherwise known as 'dust on sight'. Gotcha."

He made a mental note to work some more on the crossbow so that he would be able to shoot the fucker, rather than having to pass the shot off to Buffy. Loading and firing a crossbow was different enough from loading and firing even a sniper rifle that Jon was having to learn to wield a crossbow from scratch. Too bad they didn't have the time or facilities to come up with a workable wooden bullet. Maybe he'd ask Sam to come up with something. Just to drive her nuts. Or, more nuts, since the whole 'magic and demons exist' thing had to be driving her up the wall already. He was frankly shocked that she wasn't pestering holy hell out of Giles for information.

They headed out soon thereafter. Angel split off early to try to find Spike again. There wasn't all that much to do, either. It seemed like the vampire and demon population was only beginning to build back up. Jon was rather grateful for that, as it was allowing them to ease into the whole patrolling and fighting as a group thing. It did make him a bit twitchy, though, as experience had taught him that the longer things were quiet, the bigger the problem would be when the quiet was finally broken.

They were unaware that they were being followed and filmed. The minion Spike had given the assignment to managed to keep so close to totally silent that what little noise he did make got lost in the background shuffle, even to Jon's sensitive ears.

October 2

Angel didn't find Spike Tuesday or Wednesday night, and the Scoobies were unaware of being filmed both nights.

Thanks to those two nights' recordings, Spike had come to some uncomfortable conclusions. First, and most important ... this was a group that even he would hesitate to tackle. The redhead (Willow, Spike had learned her name was, through the videos) was their weakest link, but as he'd noticed that first night, she was closely guarded, never left alone for even a minute, so physically attacking her wouldn't be easy. Nor would attacking any of the group that wasn't the Slayer be easy. They were smart enough to never go anywhere alone at night, to always have at least one other person to watch their back. Even the Slayer never went anywhere alone.

And while some brand of psychological warfare might be successful, that was going to be a long-term process, as he would have to figure out where their weak spots were, where the cracks in their group armor were located. Not impossible, as every group had some sort of weak point that could be used against them, in Spike's experience, but not exactly something he could accomplish by the end of the week, either.

They honestly baffled the hell out of Spike because this was not how Slayers operated. Slayers went out alone. They normally didn't even have their Watcher anywhere close by enough to act as backup, nevermind having their Watcher and three other teens patrolling with them.

Despite his confusion, Spike was actually looking forward to the challenge of taking that lot on. If he succeeded with this bunch, his reputation would be made forever. Forget St. Vigeous. A couple centuries from now, vampires would be praying to St. Spike. Only Spike planned to still be alive.

It was the sort of future that Spike could get behind. He'd finally be forever out from under Angelus' shadow. But first thing first. If he was going to be here a while, to wage war against the Slayer, he needed to take control of what was left of the Aurelius Clan vampires. And that meant killing the Anointed One. Not that that was going to be particularly difficult.

Spike's biggest challenge would actually be dealing with Angel. He was going to have to let the wanker find him, preferably after he'd dealt with the Anointed One, and beat Angel into the ground in order to cement his position at the top of the Aurelius pecking order, despite Angel being older, his official grandsire and unofficial sire to boot.

Dru, thank goodness, seemed to have calmed down somewhat since their arrival on the Hellmouth. She was still weak and sick, but she wasn't raving and flailing anymore, and therefore wasn't wasting energy she needed to get better.

Knowing that the Anointed One's court would be in the warehouse the wanker had chosen for his lair, since it was after dawn, Spike slipped into the underground tunnels and headed for the other vampire's lair. Best to do this with as much of an audience as possible.

It was early enough that none of the minions had gone to sleep for the day yet when Spike pulled himself out of the tunnels. He shook his head at their pathetic security, since no one had even been posted to watch the tunnel entrance. The Anointed One was practically begging to get dusted, really. Pathetic.

Spike, much to his disgust, was able to make his way to the rafters unseen. He'd considered his options for making his entrance, and had decided that, despite it being a repeat of his first entrance here, dropping down on them from above was the more impressive way to go. And the bigger the impression he made, the better.

There were roughly two dozen vampires milling about in the warehouse, several of them still damp with dirt they were so newly turned. Spike shook his head in disgust before he dropped down, landing neatly on his feet despite the twenty-foot drop.

"Well now, we meet again." Spike taunted. "Y'really need to do better with your security mate. I walked in here bold as brass and none of this lot even knew I was here."

He waved a contemptuous hand at the gathered minions, but otherwise completely ignored them. All his attention was on the Anointed One. Which was just as well, as Spike saw the flicker of eye movement from the little wanker, and was able to turn slightly, grab the minion trying to bull-rush him from behind, and literally rip its head off, scattering dust everywhere.

"Now, that wasn't nice. Making minions jump a Master Vampire." Spike scolded, prowling closer to the Anointed One.

Either the Anointed One was arrogant beyond belief or had something up his sleeve, because the little wanker let Spike prowl right up to him. The Anointed One just sort of stared at Spike, like that was supposed to intimidate Spike or force him to behave or ... well, Spike wasn't sure what the idiot thought that look would do, really.

"You will ... " The Anointed One started to say, finally.

Unfortunately for him, he wasn't going to get to finish whatever he planned on saying, because Spike, annoyed and disgusted, grabbed the little wanker by the throat and hoisted him out of his chair.

"Time for new leadership, mate." He sneered, and then, with the same contemptuous ease he'd used on the minion a moment or two ago, ripped the Anointed One's head off, letting the resultant dust scatter on the ground.

As expected, a few of the minions did not take their leaders' death all that well. Three of them jumped at Spike more or less at the same time, but they weren't used to working together and got in each other's way far more than they helped each other deal with Spike. Not that a triad of minions had a prayer against him. Spike had all three dusted within thirty seconds, barely having to move at all in order to get the job done, and had only taken one rather ineffectual punch in the process. He stared at the remaining minions.

"Anyone else wanna object to the change in leadership around here?" He asked. None of the remaining minions moved. "Thought not. Now, let's move. Ain't staying in this place. Through the tunnel with the lot of you."

He sincerely doubted that the vast majority of the minions would still be in existence in two day's time. They mostly seemed to be useless deadweight, which Spike refused to tolerate. Odds were good he'd end up dusting most of these idiots out of sheer frustration, and then have to turn a few folks that had some worth as minions.

Still, Step One of his plan had gone off without a hitch. Step Two, confronting and beating Angel, that was going to be trickier. But Spike had every confidence he could beat Angel into submission. He was actually looking forward to it. The wanker deserved it, after all.


	24. Spike and Dru, Part 3

Spike and Dru Part 3

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

October 3

Spike spent the better part of the daylight hours interrogating the handful of minions from the Anointed One's pack. And then dusting all but two of them as useless wankers of the first order. One of the two to survive was the tech geek minion, who had surpassed Spike's expectations by surviving tailing the Slayer and her crew several nights running. Lucas was quite the prize. So much so that Spike was considering working on elevating him to Childe status. Lucas wasn't the minion's real name, of course. Spike had christened him with a name suitable for the task he was undertaking.

The other survivor was a quiet, solid bloke who'd said all of about three words the entire day, but had wordlessly set about clearing out the warehouse and setting it up as a proper lair. He'd also kept an eye on Drusilla, who seemed to be improving a bit, all without having to be told or watched to make sure he didn't screw up. Spike could appreciate that sort of competence. Not enough to bother remembering or giving the minion a name, but enough to spare his unlife.

The house cleaning had served as a good warmup to the night's planned events. It was time to deal with Angel. The longer Spike put it off, the more suspect he would be, he knew. He had to establish himself as the top of the hierarchy quickly.

Spike was looking forward to this. It was, really, long past time that someone challenged Angel's place in the hierarchy. The only reason no one had was because no one had known where he was at for much of the last century, and the only one who was lower on in the heirarchy and capable of actually challenging Angel was Spike. Drusilla, as his Childe, technically could challenge Angel's position, but given her insanity, any attempt at a challenge would be laughed off, and in the unlikely event she actually carried out the attack, swatted aside fairly easily.

Spike knew he was young for it. Very young. Most Master Vampires didn't generally challenge Masters of established courts until they were at least Angel's current age, if not older. It generally took that long for a vampire to attain the recognition outside of court hierarchies or to attain the rank inside the court necessary to make their challenge legitimate, nevermind the fighting skills necessary to challenge the average Master with a court. Of course, most clans hadn't been gutted of competent members, or been run by a complete nutter like the Aurelius clan had suffered. It made the challenge that bit easier, because Spike would essentially be starting from scratch.

But it also made it a touch harder, because Spike needed a larger audience for the challenge than the two Aurelius minions remaining from the Anointed One's court in order to spread the word that the Aurelius court was under new, competent leadership. Which meant he'd have to arrange to 'meet' Angel somewhere that vampires hung out, rather than fighting Angel somewhere that was less public.

Had Spike mentioned yet that he was really looking forward to this?

BTVSBTVSBTVS

Having learned at least the basics of the Slayer's routine, Spike headed out before the sun had fully, properly set, ducking from shadow to shadow to avoid the last, dying patches of sun. He wanted to be in position before the Slayer started hunting. If Angel followed the pattern of the last few nights, he'd split off from the Slayer's group early on to go looking for Spike.

After due consideration, Spike had decided to stage the challenge at Willy's. The place was always full of demons of every description, not just vampires, which would make it ridiculously easy for the word to spread through the entire demon community. Not only that, but Willy's was the place to go in town to find out information, and Angel had to know that, which meant it would be one of his first stops. Spike made sure to top up on blood before he arrived, knowing full well this was going to be a long, bloody fight. Angel wasn't going to relinquish his position easily.

Willy, being no one's fool, smelled trouble the minute Spike swaggered into the bar, swatting the beads over the door aside with a disgusted grimace. So did the dozen or so demons and vampires in the place. Spike smirked. He did love being acknowledged as the most dangerous bloke in the room.

It didn't take Angel long to show up, maybe fifteen minutes after the sun was fully down. He vamped out the second he spotted Spike, who was by then sprawled artfully on a stool at the bar, his back to the door in a calculated display of complete unconcern.

"Spike, what the hell are you doing here?" Angel snapped.

Spike completely ignored him, fighting down a deeply amused smirk at how pissed off that would make Angel. The wanker never had liked getting ignored. Sure enough, Angel decided that one semi-polite question was his limit, and stormed over to grab Spike.

Except Spike knew better than to let Angel get that close in. Angel, even if they'd both been human, had an advantage in reach and strength. Advantages he was fully aware of and took ruthless advantage of. But what Spike lacked in sheer brute strength, he more than made up in speed, agility and cunning. And right now, that basic physical advantage was about all that Angel had on Spike, as Angel had lost any advantage that his vampiric age would otherwise have conferred on him due to not drinking human blood for the last century.

So Spike flipped neatly over Angel's head before the bastard could get in grabbing range, and wasn't quite able to keep himself from literally kicking Angel's ass, just to further aggravate the big lug. He deliberately kept the kick light enough that Angel only wobbled slightly at the unexpected (and admittedly somewhat childish) attack.

Willy squalled something about not starting a fight in the bar that both Spike and Angel completely ignored. Meanwhile, most of the demons quickly got out of the way, aware that things might well get interesting shortly and not wanting to get caught in the crossfire.

"Sorry, mate, but I don't answer to you anymore. Haven't in a long time." Spike said. "Y'ain't been my sire since you fucked off an' left me to keep Dru from walkin' into the sun." Not quite completely truthful, as Spike couldn't help still thinking of Angelus as his sire because the bastard had taught Spike how to be a vampire, but Spike had been forced to grow up without that guidance very early on. After all, it wasn't like that bitch Darla had stuck around after Angel got cursed, now was it?

"'m thinkin' it's well past time y'got replaced. An' seein' as how I dusted that pitiful wanker the Anointed One, I'm thinkin' I'm the one to do it. 'bout damn time the Aurelius name became something worth rememberin'." Spike said.

Angel laughed uproariously. "And you think you can ... what? You're nothing but an impetuous child."

It was Spike's turn to laugh. "I was, a few decades back." He admitted. "But your information's a bit out of date these days, mate."

Angel scoffed. "I don't think so. You'll never change, Spike."

That just pissed Spike off. "Had to, didn't I? Didn't have much of a choice. You fucked off, and Darla followed not much later. Was just Dru'n me."

"And I've heard all about your exploits." Angel scoffed.

Spike laughed outright. "Yeah, mate. I'm sure you have."

Thing was, there had definitely been exploits. Many of which, from an uninformed outsider's point of view, probably did look like they'd been half-assed planned and executed by an impatient Childe. But Spike had been dealing with Dru, the queen of short attention spans and inability to follow a plan. It was a testament to Spike's abilities that he and Dru had survived this long, never mind that they'd managed to carry out some successful plans amidst the spectacular failures. Not that Spike was going to explain that to Angel. Wasn't worth the waste of time, effort, and air. Especially now.

"The Master is dead." Spike said. "And his ashes scattered to the four winds, never to be resurrected. The Anointed One, the Master's named successor, is also dead, his ashes scattered to the four winds, never to be resurrected. Darla, Childe of the Master, is also dead, her ashes scattered to the four winds, never to be resurrected."

By that point, Angel knew exactly what Spike was planning to do. There was, after all, a traditional ritual for this sort of thing. Angel sort of smirked at Spike, almost tolerantly amused at Spike's presumption.

"Angelus, Childe of Darla, Childe of the Master, you are unfit to lead the Aurelius Clan. Drusilla, Childe of Angelus is also unfit, and unable to challenge." Spike went on. "I, Spike, Childe of Drusilla, hereby challenge you for leadership of the Aurelius Clan."

Angel let out a bark of a laugh. "You really think you can defeat me?"

Spike snorted. "You haven't had human blood in, what, fifty years at this point?" He pointed out. "And hadn't had it for nearly fifty years before that? You may have a hundred years on me, mate, but you might as well be human for all the good it'll do you." He didn't bother pointing out that he had two Slayers to his name, while Angel had none. There was really no point in bragging about that, at least not right now. Later, definitely. Now, not so much.

Angel did not look convinced. But then, Spike hadn't expected him to. Spike waited patiently, willing to let Angel make the first move. Angel didn't waste much time making it, rushing Spike with the clear intention of cornering Spike somewhere where Angel's greater strength and reach could be used to devastating advantage without Spike being able to escape.

But Spike wasn't anywhere near that stupid, and didn't let himself get cornered, ducking low under Angel's arms in an almost acrobatic tumble, one clawed hand reaching out to try and carve up one of Angel's legs as he rolled past. Angel managed to dance out of the way of the strike barely in time, and kicked at Spike while Spike was still in motion.

Spike bounced to his feet and started a series of lightning-fast feints, darting into Angel's range and back out again. He made no attempt to hit Angel at all. His entire intent was to frustrate Angel into making a crucial error that Spike could then take full advantage of.

And eventually, Angel did make that mistake. Irritated beyond the telling of it at his inability to land a hit on Spike, Angel finally lost control of his temper and started flailing around (rather uselessly). In the process, he turned his back on Spike for just a heartbeat.

Spike struck like a snake, landing a brutal blow on Angel's temporarily unprotected back. Angel roared and whirled around, just managing to connect with Spike's already retreating form in the process. Unfortunately, the damage had been done, and Angel was now bleeding sluggishly from four long gashes down his back, courtesy of Spike's claws. For his part, Spike was now sporting a rather colorful bruise.

BTVSBTVSBTVS

The Scoobies, meanwhile, were pretty much on the far side of town from Willy's Bar, prowling two cemeteries that were close together, among other places on that end of town. Aware now of the danger Spike presented, Jon was keeping careful watch for that easily-visible blonde hair.

Between that, and the fact they were in a relatively quiet area, Jon finally picked up on the fact they were being followed, though he couldn't immediately spot their stalker. Who (or what) ever it was, they knew to keep out of sight.

"Guys, we're being followed." Jon warned the others.

"Oh, great. Any idea who or what by?" Buffy wanted to know, eyeing their surroundings.

"Pretty sure it's a vampire. At least, I'm not hearing a heartbeat of any kind. Though somehow, I doubt vampires are the only ones who don't have a heartbeat as we know it." Jon pointed out. "Can't really tell where they're at, because they're doing their damndest to be totally silent, which makes pinpointing where they're at more than a little difficult."

Xander reached over and put his hand on Jon's arm. "Try now. See if you can pinpoint them if you're leaning on me." Senses-wise, Xander meant.

Jon cocked an eyebrow, but obeyed, reaching out with his hearing to try to pinpoint the position of their stalker. Fortunately for Lucas, the fight between Angel and Spike got a bit loud at that point, and Jon swung around, eyes snapping open, as he heard Angel's voice.

"Awww, shit. Forget the stalker. I think Angel found Spike. And they're fighting, from the sounds of it." Jon practically whined.

Buffy immediately turned, ready to go to Angel's assistance. "Where are they?"

"Somewhere mid-town. Willy's, I think. Or at least nearby. I can hear him in close proximity, whining about damage to his bar."

"Let's go." Buffy took off at a trot.

After a second, and a shared look between them, Jon and Xander followed, Xander tucking Willow's arm under his to ensure she stayed close.

By the time they arrived, the fight had spilled out of Willy's into the street, and gotten a lot more vicious. Both Spike and Angel were bleeding now, though that was only detectable by the sprays of blood that scattered all over the place.

The fight had escalated to the point that even to Buffy and Jon's enhanced eyes, it was nothing but a largely indistinguishable blur as the two vampires fought for dominance. Spike was partially trackable, thanks to his blonde hair, but he was moving so fast that Buffy muttered something under her breath about the Tasmanian Devil, making Xander snort in amusement.

The Scoobies hesitated to do anything. It was nearly impossible to tell which vampire was where at any given moment, making shooting at them impractical in the extreme, and with the speed the two were moving at, not even Buffy was feeling tempted to jump in with a physical attack.

"Right. Nothing we can do about this. He's either going to win or lose on his own." Jon said. He wasn't overly fussed about Angel's fate. "We better get back to patrol. Something's bound to try to take advantage of this."

Buffy watched the fighting pair for a long moment, visibly reluctant to walk away. After a few moments, though, she sighed. "You're probably right, Jon. We better get a move on." She still lagged behind the others, though, glancing over her shoulder at Angel and Spike.

"If Spike survives that, we're upping our training regimen." Jon proclaimed.

"Not going to get an argument out of me." Buffy agreed. "I mean, I was taking Giles and Angel seriously when they said Spike was a threat, but it's one thing to hear about it."

"And something else entirely to see it in action." Xander said with a nod.

"They were just a blur." Willow said. "I couldn't really even tell what was going on."

"Me either." Xander said.

"I wasn't seeing much more than you two were." Jon said. "Though I think I could tell Spike from Angel. That's about as far as I got with it, though."

Buffy nodded her agreement, and they all headed back to their assigned patrol route. Jon, however, kept an ear out for the conclusion of the fight.

BTVSBTVSBTVS

Angel had been aware of the Scoobies' approach, and had increased his attempts to kill Spike, seeking to keep Spike from trying to attack the group. Unbeknownst to him, the attempt was entirely unnecessary, as Spike was concentrating fully on Angel, and had spared only enough attention for the Slayer's arrival to ensure he didn't get staked in the back.

The fight continued for a good ten minutes after the Scoobies retreated, with both Spike and Angel trading vicious blows. By then, they'd attracted quite an audience, as word had spread about the fight and the reason for it. The street was now ringed by various vampires and demons, all watching the fight and waiting to see the outcome.

And then, with a final flurry of vicious punches and slashes, Spike somehow managed to bring Angel down, the both of them crashing to the pavement, Angel facedown with one of Spike's clawed hands wrapped around his throat and the other clenched against his back over his spine, seconds from tearing through and breaking Angel's spine. Spike's knees were buried in the small of Angel's back, putting additional stress on his lower spine. One wrong move, and Angel would be dust twice over.

"Do you yield?" Spike demanded.

It would be possible for Angel to live, if he yielded. After all, not every Master vampire desired to run a court. So long as Angel acknowledged Spike as the winner and new Master, his unlife could be spared. Unfortunately, Spike didn't have a clue as to whether or not Angel would yield.

For one long moment, it looked as if Angel would fight him, and Spike would be forced to dust the wanker. But then Spike felt Angel's body relax.

"I yield."

Spike didn't doubt that Angel had some sort of plan in mind to try to undermine Spike or usurp Spike's newly acquired position. He leaned down and whispered to Angel.

"Don't get any bright ideas, mate. I got no problem with dusting you at a moment's notice." Then, more loudly. "Accepted." Then he glanced up and looked at the surrounding watchers. "Every vampire in town, Aurelius sired or not, has twenty-four hours to swear their allegiance to me or get the hell out of town. Anyone who stays and refuses to swear allegiance will be dust." And there was no guarantee that the ones that swore allegiance would survive, either, but Spike wasn't going to say that. "Court's set up in the warehouse down by the docks."

He got to his feet, dragging Angel with him. "That includes you, Angel." He pointed out, making sure Angel understood that his yielding wasn't going to be enough. "And if I catch you hanging out with the Slayer after, you're dust." Spike wasn't about to tolerate a spy in his Court. At least, not one that was going to be tattling to the Slayer.

Spike gave Angel a completely unnecessary shove to get him moving, and then took off himself to go clean up. He was a mass of bruises and cuts, but fortunately the damage wasn't all that extensive, and would be healed by this time tomorrow.

Angel, of course, wasn't quite as lucky, having collected a number of nasty gashes and at least one broken bone, alongside having suffered defeat at Spike's hands, as well as being more or less one giant bruise.


	25. Spike and Dru, Part 4

Spike and Dru Part 4

A/N: Disclaimer's in the first chapter. Keep an eye on the dates, as this one goes over things that happened Scooby-side while Spike was so busy.

(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)(_)

October 2 Sunnydale

Jim grimaced as he drove the truck past the (completely imaginary) line around Sunnydale that represented the Hellmouth's sphere of influence. He was never going to be able to get used to the foul emanations that came from that thing.

Beside him, Blair reached over to pat his leg, evidently picking up on Jim's increased tension. "Just crossed the border, Jim?"

"Yeah. I don't get how Jon can stand that all the time. It drives me nuts."

"His territory versus yours, man. Plus, he's more used to weird than we are." Blair pointed out. "This place probably makes him feel right at home."

"I'm just glad Simon let us take today and tomorrow off." Jim said. "I don't think Xander's had much parental involvement up to now." And while it was more than a bit weird for Jim to find himself crossing two states in order to go to a Parent Teacher night, he realized he didn't want to miss it. Probably legacy of his own father's complete disinterest and disapproval. He damn well wanted to make sure he was nothing like his father.

"So am I. I'm looking forward to exploring the town more." Blair said.

Which got him a death glare from Jim. "Not at night, you're not. You want to find out more about demons, read the books. I don't want you anywhere near a real live one. Not even that Angel asshole."

Blair actually laughed. "I already knew that, Jim. But there won't be any harm in exploring during the daytime."

"Only if I'm with you." Jim demanded.

"Of course, Jim." Blair said, with the sort of tone that said he was highly amused, and humoring Jim more than a little. He wasn't, after all, stupid. Wandering around Sunnydale alone, even during the day, was asking for trouble. He even gave Jim's leg an extra pat.

Jim gave him the stink-eye for a moment before sighing. "I'm being redundant again, aren't I?"

"Just a bit, but it's nice to know you're thinking of these things." That Jim cared, Blair didn't say. Blair'd had a lot of friends over the years, but only a very small number of them had been reliable and truly invested in their friendship with him.

It didn't take them long to arrive at Joyce's house. Willow's parents were gone, again, so she'd offered to let Jim and Blair stay there, rather than try to stay at a hotel where Jim would get absolutely no rest whatever. They'd be heading there later in the day, after they'd said their hello's to Joyce, since Xander and company were already in school at this hour.

Joyce grinned when she opened the door. "Come in, both of you. Did you have a nice flight down?" She asked.

"Yeah. Jim only ground his teeth for five whole minutes this time, compared to the entire flight." Blair said. "And the drive from the airport was nice too."

"That's good to hear. Xander's been looking forward to seeing you both since this came up." Joyce said. "I must say, he's been happier these last few weeks than he's been since I first met him. You two have been good for him."

"That's good to hear." Jim said. "Jessica giving you any grief?"

"Other than in the respect that we haven't heard from her, or Tony, no." Joyce said. "It's like they've both decided to forget Xander ever existed. Quite frankly, I think that's for the better. It might hurt him in the short term, but it'll mean less damage in the long term."

"How've things been otherwise? Any trouble from this Spike vampire?" Jim wanted to know.

Joyce shook her head. "They saw him the once and that's been it. Whatever it is he's up to, it either doesn't involve the kids, which is very unlikely, or he's playing a waiting game."

Jim didn't much like the sound of that. Because enemies that were content to wait and watch were always the most dangerous ones. They were the ones that weren't afraid to adapt their plans to what they discovered while they observed their opponents.

"Well, we'll be here all weekend, so if this Spike character decides to try to spring a trap, the kids will have extra backup." Jim said.

"I just want to know why Spike is so different from the average vampire." Blair said.

Joyce shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, though I'll admit to wanting an answer to that question myself. Even Giles had no idea why Spike was so unusual."

The three adults spent the rest of the day talking and catching up on all the things Xander hadn't thought to fill Jim in on until the Scoobies (including Giles) arrived at the house after school was done.

Xander grinned when he spotted Jim. "Hey Jim!" He said, then dithered for a moment, not quite sure whether to shake Jim's hand or what. From his spot behind Xander, Jon nodded a greeting to Jim.

"Hi, Mr. Ellison." Willow and Buffy said, more or less at the same time.

Jim caught Xander's confusion, and closed the distance between them. "Xander." He said, then ruffled Xander's hair, which got him an indignant squawk followed by a pleased-looking grin. "So what's the plan for tonight?" He wanted to know.

Buffy spoke up. "Well, thanks to mom, all the decorations are ready, and won't take all that long to put up. And she made Snyder pony up for snacks for the parents. He was originally going to make me foot the bill." Buffy made an outraged face.

Jim shook his head. "I still can't believe he threatened to expel you for not decorating up to his standards." He said. "That takes some serious balls."

"Tell me about it. Though mom set him straight real quick." Buffy said. All of the teens grinned toothily.

"We got to listen in on her giving him what-for." Jon said.

Willow grinned shyly over at Joyce. "It was really fun to listen to." She said.

They had just enough time for dinner before everyone trooped over to the school to decorate.

Blair not-so-subtly divided everyone into pairs and encouraged them to split up throughout the school to set things up. He paired himself with Jon, and nudged Jim into pairing with Xander so father and son could have a bit of time together in semi-private. He also nudged Buffy and Joyce into pairing up, and Giles and Willow.

Blair, thanks to the various phone calls from Sunnydale, as well as some things Willow had said during the summer, was aware that Willow's parents were largely absent. And that Willow needed an adult to look up to for guidance. Given that she was quiet, almost shy actually, and studious, he'd figured that Giles might be a good choice for adult support, and had decided to enact his plan to get the two of them working together as soon as possible. This trip provided an invaluable opportunity to do just that.

For his part, Xander reveled in the novelty of having a parent at parent teacher night. Even Willow's parents had managed to make it to these things every now and again, but Jessica and Tony never had. Xander was fairly sure he'd never quite get used to adults that gave a damn whether he lived or died, but he was equally sure he'd thoroughly enjoy it all the same.

It helped that Xander actually had things to brag about. He'd been making more of an effort in school this year so far, mostly in light of the knowledge he was in several advanced classes, and therefore not quite as dumb as he'd always believed himself to be. He still wasn't a straight-A student, but he had only the one C. The rest of his classes were B's and two A's. Before now, he'd been a C student, with the occasional D.

Jim didn't patrol with them that night, mostly because the last thing he needed was some demon deciding that Blair was a tasty tidbit. They'd stayed at the house with Joyce until the gang came back.

October 3 Summers House

The first Jim, Blair, and Joyce knew of trouble was when the Scoobies more or less piled into the basement, wide-eyed and worried.

"Spike and Angel are fighting." Buffy said, nearly breathless, more with worry than with physical exertion. "They were moving so fast! None of us quite dared to try to interfere." She wrinkled her nose. "I didn't want to hit Angel, and there was no guarantee I wouldn't." Not at the speed those two had been moving. Buffy knew she could move faster than the average human, but the two vampires had been moving entirely too unpredictably for her to feel comfortable jumping in. "Or that Angel wouldn't accidentally hit me instead of Spike."

Jim could tell she was very much not happy with walking away. "You made the right call, Buffy. Until you and Angel are so well-practiced at fighting together you compensate for each other automatically, jumping into each others' fights is a damn stupid thing to do, especially completely unexpectedly. That's a damn good way to get badly hurt."

Privately, he dearly hoped Buffy never did get that used to fighting with Angel, because he wanted Angel nowhere near her, and knew that pretty much everyone else agreed with him. What she saw in Angel, Jim would never know.

Not too long after they'd returned to the house, Angel more or less fell in the basement door. Buffy yelped and hurried over to help him only for him to growl at her. Normally her being the Slayer wasn't a problem, but with him this weakened and in pain, his instincts were taking over a bit (even if his demon wasn't and couldn't) and having a Slayer come at him when he was in this condition was a Bad Thing.

Buffy scowled, but backed off, and Xander, rolling his eyes at the necessity of it (and ignoring Jon's cut-off noise of displeasure) walked over to drag Angel the rest of the way into the basement.

"From your appearance, I presume you lost the fight?" Giles asked.

Angel leaned against the wall and glowered at Giles. "Yes." He admitted, his tone bitter. "But there's a bigger problem."

"Bigger than your kid handing you your ass?" Xander couldn't quite help but say, unable to resist the temptation to pour salt on the wound.

That got him a glare. "Yes. That wasn't a normal fight. Spike decided to try to take control of what's left of the Aurelius Clan of vampires. The Master's old crew, most of whom are here. Which means he effectively has control of pretty much any vampire sired in Sunnydale."

"Ok, that is definitely of the bad." Willow said. "If he can boss around all the vampires ... "

"You're probably going to end up facing what amounts to a siege before too long. You've got a small grace period, because he needs to consolidate his control, but that won't last long. A week at most. He's already demanded that every vampire in the city swear fealty to him, get out of town or get dusted. And we have until tomorrow night to do it. Including me." Angel fairly growled out the news.

Buffy wrinkled her nose. "That ... is not good news." She said.

"Actually ... " Jim said. "Actually, it might be. Because most of the vampires in town are going to be in one spot tomorrow night. Angel, you have any idea where Spike told them to go?"

"Warehouse down by the docks." Angel said.

Buffy quickly caught on to where Jim was going with that question. "We ambush them. Light the place on fire, something like that. We'd kill most of the city's population of vamps in one go." She said, then grinned at Jim. "Have I told you lately that I really like you?" She asked.

Jim laughed. "I may have heard something to that effect." He said.

"I'll get some maps. We have some planning to do." Giles said, then hurried to one of the bookshelves, where a few different maps of Sunnydale rested. He pulled one out and spread it out. "All right, the docks are here, and the warehouses here. There are only three empty or abandoned ones down there right now, from Buffy's last report of the area a few days ago."

"You have any information on the warehouses? I might be able to figure out which one Spike'd pick." Angel said, as he picked himself up off the floor.

Xander and Willow, as the long-time Sunnydale residents, filled the others in on the various warehouses. Angel thought it over for a few moments, then pointed to one. "This one is the best bet. Fewer windows, an upstairs office area, where he'd be able to set up private living space for himself and Drusilla, if she's with him still. Tunnel access to allow demons to come and go at will, and the other warehouses are far enough away to give a good line of sight and make an enemy's approach difficult."

"Ok, as tempting as shooting the place up with flaming arrows sounds, I don't think that's going to work." Jon said. "Sadly. And we're not going to be able to utilize explosives, even if we had any. That said, I vote for flamethrowers. We can probably knock one or two together during the day tomorrow. They're not all that difficult to manage if you know what you're doing."

"And fighting hand to hand with the place up to the gills with vampires would be the next best thing to suicide." Buffy agreed. "So burning the place to the ground is the best idea. That said, I want to try to block off their underground escape route. Where's the tunnel entrance at?"

It didn't take them long to pinpoint it. "Ok, so we send one group through the wall here." Jim said, touching the spot. "Which will require some heavy hitting power to get through the metal. So Buffy and/or Angel. It also would have the side benefit of being more unpredictable. Spike will probably expect the Slayer, if you showed up at all, to come in the front door."

Buffy nodded. "So coming at him from an unexpected angle will throw him off, at least temporarily."

"He'll expect me to wait until the last possible moment to show up." Angel said. "So Buffy and I both can hit that side." After which he planned to get the hell out of Dodge, because he was just as flammable as any other vampire, and hanging about when there were going to be flamethrowers in play was stupid as hell.

"Right, so ... Jim and I will hit the army surplus store first thing in the morning, and get to work on the throwers." Jon said. "Too bad we didn't have more warning, or I could have called Jack and gotten military grade ones." Unfortunately, such things hadn't been used in years, and getting his hands on some of them would have taken more than a day, even for Jack O'Neill.

"Who do we send through the front door, since Buffy and Angel are coming in the side?" Xander wanted to know.

"Jim." Was Jon's immediate vote. "He's the most physically imposing of us. With Blair alongside. Giles and Willow can take one of the other sides, and Xander and I the fourth."

"I'll go in with Buffy." Joyce said, having spotted the fact that Angel would be booking it once Buffy was in, even if the others hadn't quite twigged to it yet.

"MOM!" Buffy squawked.

Joyce gave Buffy a look. "You're going to need someone to help watch your back ... and do you really expect Angel to stick around when there's going to be fire everywhere?"

Buffy blinked, then gave her mother a slightly sheepish look. "Ummm ... I forgot about that part?" She admitted. "But I still don't want you in danger like that, mom."

"Don't you worry about me, young lady. I can take care of myself." Joyce scolded gently. "I'll not leave you undefended."

"She has a point, Buffy." Xander pointed out. "How many times have we commented on how fierce she was on patrol that time?"

Buffy still didn't like it, but realized she was fighting a losing battle on this one, and gave in somewhat gracelessly. "Oh, all right."


End file.
